Country 


JO! 


l\\v\5J 


byHenry> 


. 


OLD  COUNTRY  INNS 
OF  ENGLAND 


Uniform  with  this  volume 

INNS  AND   TAVERNS 
OF  OLD   LONDON 

Setting  forth  the  historical  and  literary 
associations  of  those  ancient  hostelries, 
together  with  an  account  of  the  most 
notable  coffee-houses,  clubs,  and  pleasure 
gardens  of  the  British  metropolis. 

By 

HENRY  C.  SHELLEY 

With  coloured  frontispiece,  and 
48  other  illustrations 

L.  C.   PAGE  &  COMPANY 
53  Beacon  Street,  Boston,  Mass. 


The  Chequers,  Loose 


HENRY  P.    MASKELL 


EDWARD   W,    GREGORY 


With 

THE   AUTHORS 


BOSTON 

L.    C.   PAGE   &  COMPANY 
MDCCCCXI 


PREFACE 

"  WHY  do  your  guide  books  tell  us  about 
nothing  but  Churches  and  Manor  Houses  ?" 
Such  was  the  not  altogether  unjustifiable 
complaint  of  an  American  friend  whose 
motor  car  was  undergoing  repairs.  He  was 
stranded  in  a  sleepy  old  market  town  of 
winding  streets,  overhanging  structures  and 
oddly  set  gables,  where  every  stone  and 
carved  beam  seemed  only  waiting  an 
interpreter  to  unfold  its  story. 

In  the  following  pages  we  have  attempted 
a  classification  and  description  of  the  inns, 
which  not  only  sheltered  our  forefathers 
when  on  their  journeys,  but  served  as  their 
usual  places  for  meeting  and  recreation. 
The  subject  is  by  no  means  exhausted.  All 
over  England  there  are  hundreds  of  other 
old  inns  quite  as  interesting  as  those  which 
find  mention,  and  it  is  hoped  that  our 
work  may  prove  for  many  tourists  the 
introduction  to  a  most  fascinating  study. 

Thoughtful  men,  including  earnest  Church- 
men such  as  the  Bishop  of  Birmingham  and 


906604: 


vi  Preface 

the  Rev.  H.  R.  Gamble,  are  asking  the 
question  whether  the  old  inns  should  be 
allowed  to  disappear.  The  public  house  as 
a  national  institution  has  still  its  purposes 
to  fulfil,  and  a  few  suggestions  have  there- 
fore been  included  with  a  view  of  showing 
how  it  might  easily  be  adapted  to  modern 
social  needs. 


CONTENTS 


CHAP.  PAG.i 

I.  MANORIAL  INNS  .....         1 

II.  MONASTIC  INNS                                              14 

III.  THE  HOSPICES 29 

IV.  THE  RISE  OF  THE  TOWNS      .         .         .41 

V.  THE  CRAFT  GUILDS  AND  TRADERS'  INNS      56 

VI.  CHURCH  INNS  AND  CHURCH  ALES  .         .      67 
VII.  COACHING  INNS  .        ....      81 

VIII.  WAYSIDE  INNS  AND  ALEHOUSES  .         .      96 

IX.  HISTORIC  SIGNS  AND  HISTORIC  INNS     .     112 

X.  SPORTS  AND  PASTIMES         .         .         .135 

XL  THE  INNS  OF  LITERATURE  AND  ART     .     148 

XII.  FANCIFUL  SIGNS  AND  CURIOUS  SIGNBOARDS  160 

XIII.  HAUNTED  INNS 181 

XIV.  OLD  INNS  AND  THEIR  ARCHITECTURE     .     195 
XV.  THE  COMMERCIAL  TRAVELLER     .         .     209 

XVI.  THE  NEW  INN  AND  ITS  POSSIBILITIES  .  220 

XVII.  INN  FURNITURE 237 

XVIII.  THE  INNKEEPER  .  .  .  .256 

XIX.  PUBLIC  HOUSE  REFORM                              272 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 


THE  CHEQUERS,  LOOSE  .          .          .          Frontispiece 

THE  KING'S  ARMS,  HEMEL  HEMPSTEAD  .         .        x 

THE  SPREAD  EAGLE,  MIDHURST     .         .         .  8,    10 

THE  BULL,  SUDBURY     .         .         .         .         .         .19 

PIGEON  HOUSE  AT  THE  BULL,  LONG  MELFORD        .       21 
YARD  OF  THE  WHITE  HORSE,  DORKING  .         .         .27 
THE  WHITE  HART,  BRENTWOOD     ....       42 

THE  SWAN,  FELSTEAD  .         .         .         .         .         .51 

THE  BRICKLAYERS'  ARMS,  CAXTON          ...       61 
THE  GOLDEN  FLEECE,  SOUTH  WEALD     ...       63 
PORCH,  CHALK  CHURCH,  KENT       .         .         .     facing  67 
CHURCH  HOUSE,  PENSHURST  ....       72 

THE  PUNCH  BOWL,  HIGH  EASTER  .         .         74,  76 

YARD  OF  THE  WHITE  HART,  ST.  ALBANS  .  .  84 
COACH  GALLERY  AT  THE  BULL,  LONG  MELFORD  .  86 
FIREPLACE  AT  THE  WHITE  HART,  WITHAM  .  .  89 
OLD  COACHING  INNS,  ST.  ALBANS  .  .  .94 

BOTOLPH'S  BRIDGE  INN,  ROMNEY  MARSH        .         .       95 

THE  WHITE  HORSE,  PLESHY 99 

THE  CHEQUERS,  DODDINGTON  .  .  .  facing  104 
THE  CHEQUERS,  REDBOURNE  .  .  .  .106 

THE  THREE  HORSE  SHOES,  PAPWORTH  EVERARD  108 
THE  HORSESHOES,  LICKFOLD  .  .  .  109 

THE  RED  LION,  WINGHAM 113 

THE  SWAN,  SUTTON  VALENCE         .          .          .  116 


List  oi  Illustrations  ix 

PACK 

THE  KING'S  HEAD,  ROEHAMPTON  .  .  .119 
THE  NELSON,  MAIDSTONE 129 

THE  HORSE  AND  GROOM,   NEAR  WALTHAM  ST. 

LAWRENCE         .......     136 

THE  FALSTAFF,  CANTERBURY  .  .  .  .149 
THE  SIR  JOHN  FALSTAFF,  NEWINGTON  .  .  .152 
SIGN  OF  THE  Fox  AND  HOUNDS,  BARLEY  .  .165 
SIGN  OF  BLACK'S  HEAD,  ASHBOURNE  .  .  .170 
SIGN  OF  WHITE  HART,  WITH  AM  .  .  .173 

THE  ANGEL,  THEALE 175 

THE  CLOTHIERS'  ARMS,  STROUD      .          .  facing    184 

THE  GREYHOUND  INN,  STROUD      .         .         .       „       190 
THE  SHIP,  WINGHAM     .         .         .         .         .         .194 

THE  KING'S  HEAD,  AYLESBURY     .         .         .         .196 

TAP-ROOM  AT  THE  BULL,  SUDBURY         .         .         .198 
THE  KING'S  HEAD,  LOUGHTON,  ESSEX  .         .  facing  200 
FIREPLACE  AT  THE  SUN,  PEERING  ....     203 

FIREPLACE  AT  THE  NOAH'S  ARK,  LURGASHALL  .  207 
Fox  AND  PELICAN  INN,  HASLEMERE  .  facing  212 

THE  WHITE  HORSE  INN,  STETCHWORTH,  NEW- 
MARKET   ,,228 

THE  WOODMAN  INN,  FARNBOROUGH,  KENT  ,,      240 

THE  WHEATSHEAF  INN,  LOUGHTON,  ESSEX  .  ,,  248 
THE  SKITTLES  INN,  LETCHWORTH,  HERTS  .  ,,  254 

RECREATION   ROOM  IN  THE  SKITTLES  INN, 

LETCHWORTH,  HERTS  ...  ,,      266 

THE  BELL  INN,  BELL  COMMON,  EPPING  .  ,,      280 

SIGN  OF  THK  ANGEL  INN,  WOOLHAMPTON        .        .       285 


The  King's  Arms,  Hemel  Hempstead 


OLD   COUNTRY   INNS 


CHAPTER  I 

MANORIAL   INNS 

WHICH  among  the  thousand  of  old  inns  to 
be  met  with  on  our  country  roads  has  a  right 
to  be  called  the  oldest  ?  There  are  many 
claimants.  The  title-deeds  of  the  Saracen's 
Head  at  Newark  refer  back  to  1341.  Local 
antiquaries  cite  documentary  evidence  to 
prove  that  the  Seven  Stars  at  Manchester 
existed  before  the  year  1356.  Symond 
Potyn,  who  founded  St.  Catherine's  Hospital 
for  poor  Pilgrims  at  Rochester  in  1316,  is 
described  as  "of  the  Crown  Inn."  A  Not- 
tingham ballad  relates  the  adventures  of  one 
Dame  Rose  who  kept  the  Ram  in  that  town 
"  in  the  days  of  good  King  Stephen."  Then 
we  have  the  witness  of  the  German  Ambas- 
sador to  the  comfort  and  excellence  of  the 
Fountain  at  Canterbury,  when  he  lodged  there 
in  1299,  on  the  occasion  of  the  marriage  of 
King  Edward  I  to  Margaret  of  France.  Nay, 
the  legend  runs  that  within  its  walls  the  four 
murderers  of  St.  Thomas  arranged  the  last 


*  12  Old   Country  Inns 

details  of  their  plot  in  1170,  and  that  the  wife 
of  Earl  Godwin  stayed  at  this  inn  in  1029. 
But  what  are  all  these  compared  with  the 
Fighting  Cocks  at  St.  Albans,  said  to  be  the 
oldest  inhabited  house  in  England  ?  A  few 
years  ago  its  signboard  modestly  chronicled 
the  fact  that  it  had  been  "  Rebuilt  after  the 
Flood." 

Nevertheless,  we  can  safely  assert  that  no 
English  inn  has  a  history  of  more  than  800 
years,  and  that  very  few  hostelries  can  trace 
their  independent  existence  to  a  period 
earlier  than  the  fourteenth  century.  Until 
the  towns  had  acquired  rights  of  self-govern- 
ment and  trade  had  in  consequence  begun  to 
expand,  there  was  little  occasion  for  inns. 
England  under  the  Norman  kings  was  a 
purely  agricultural  country  with  scattered 
villages  where  dependent  tillers  of  the  soil 
grouped  their  clay-walled  thatched  hovels 
around  church  and  manor-house.  Even 
ancient  towns,  with  a  record  of  a  thousand 
years,  were  merely  rather  larger  villages  on 
a  navigable  river  or  a  cross  road.  Foreign 
merchant  ships  were  just  beginning  to  call 
once  more  at  the  seaports  on  the  chance  of 
trade. 

Travelling  on  the  roads  was  attended  with 


Manorial  Inns 


serious  dangers  and  inconveniences.  Rob- 
bers abounded,  some  not  so  courteous  and 
discriminating  as  the  legendary  Robin  Hood. 
Armed  retainers  at  the  tail  of  some  noble 
lord's  retinue  were  occasionally  not  above  a 
little  highway  robbery  on  their  own  account, 
and  if  the  victim  failed  to  beat  off  his  assailant 
his  remedy  at  law  was  precarious  at  best. 
Such  a  band,  if  sufficiently  numerous,  would 
even  go  so  far  as  to  attack  the  King's  officers 
sent  in  pursuit  of  them.  The  journey  might 
at  any  time  be  brought  to  an  abrupt  conclu- 
sion because  the  travellers'  horses  and  carts 
were  forcibly  commandeered  by  the  purveyor 
to  the  King  or  some  great  noble.  The  roads 
themselves  were  in  a  disgraceful  state,  full 
of  deep  ruts,  holes  and  quagmires,  quite 
impassable  in  wet  weather  ;  their  repair  was 
left  to  chance  or  the  good-will  of  neighbouring 
owners.  In  the  towns  they  were  encumbered 
with  heaps  of  refuse.  The  rolls  of  Parlia- 
ment from  the  reign  of  Edward  I  onward 
contain  numerous  petitions  for  a  regular 
highway  tax. 

A  curious  illustration  of  the  lack  of  any 
systematic  authority  over  the  roads,  even  as 
late  as  the  fifteenth  century,  is  preserved  in 
the  records  of  the  Manor  of  Aylesbury.  A 


Old   Country  Inns 


local  miller,  named  Richard  Boose,  needed 
some  ramming  clay  for  the  repair  of  his  mill. 
Accordingly  his  servants  dug  a  great  pit  in 
the  middle  of  the  road,  ten  feet  wide  and 
eight  feet  deep,  and  so  left  it  to  become  filled 
with  water  from  the  winter  rains.  A  glover 
from  Leighton  Buzzard,  on  his  way  home 
from  market,  fell  in  and  was  drowned. 
Charged  with  manslaughter,  the  miller  pleaded 
that  he  knew  no  place  wherein  to  get  the 
kind  of  clay  he  required  except  on  the  high 
road.  He  was  acquitted.1 

Furthermore,  all  England  was  parcelled 
out  into  manors,  each  a  little  principality  in 
itself  presided  over  by  a  lord  who  in  practice 
possessed  summary  rights  over  life  and  pro- 
perty within  his  domain.  A  stranger  might 
be  called  upon  to  undergo  a  very  searching 
examination  to  account  for  his  presence  in 
the  neighbourhood.  Most  of  the  inhabitants 
were  forbidden  to  leave  the  demesne  without 
the  consent  of  their  lord.  Not  that  this  was 
a  great  hardship;  the  idea  of  a  journey 
rarely  occurs  to  the  bucolic  mind,  and  fully 
half  the  rural  population  of  England  in  these 
days  of  cheap  railway  excursions  are  content 
to  spend  their  lives  within  their  native  parish, 

1  Parker's  "  Manor  of  Aylesbury,"  14. 


Manorial  Inns 


or  at  any  rate  never  venture  beyond  the 
market  town. 

In  every  manor  there  was  a  manor-house, 
the  residence  of  the  lord  and  the  centre  of 
the  life  of  the  community.  It  was  usually 
quite  a  simple  building  on  the  main  street 
near  the  church.  Here  were  held  the  manor 
courts,  view  of  frank  pledge,  assize  of  bread 
and  ale  and  other  quaint  customs,  some  of 
which  have  come  down  to  our  own  days. 
Hither  at  Hocktide  and  harvest  would 
come  the  tenants  and  their  wives,  bringing 
their  own  platters,  cups  and  napkins  for  their 
feast. 

Such  few  travellers  as  were  benighted  on 
the  road,  small  merchants  or  pedlars  going 
to  a  local  fair,  a  knight  or  squire  on  his  way 
to  court,  Kings'  messengers  and  officials, 
would  naturally  put  up  at  the  manor-house. 
Hospitality  was  so  rarely  called  for  that  it 
was  willingly  afforded,  just  as  it  is  at  an  Aus- 
tralian homestead  in  the  backwoods.  One 
more  sleeping  place  on  the  rushes  in  the  hall, 
another  seat  at  the  common  table — above 
or  below  the  salt  according  to  the  hosteller's 
estimate  of  the  guest's  condition  in  life — 
was  no  great  matter.  Doubtless  each  in  his 
own  degree  made  his  present  to  the  hosteller 


6  Old   Country   Inns 

in  the  morning ;  the  butler  in  a  country 
house  still  expects  his  solatium  from  the 
parting  guest. 

By  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century 
the  roads  had  become  more  frequented,  and 
it  was  no  longer  the  fashion  for  the  lord  to 
reside  in  the  comparatively  humble  manor- 
house.  The  cost  of  living  had  seriously 
increased ;  the  nobility  were  impoverished 
by  attendance  at  court,  the  foreign  wars,  and 
their  crowd  of  retainers.  So  the  lord  retired 
to  his  more  secluded  castle  or  country  seat, 
leaving  strangers  to  be  entertained  at  the 
manor-house  by  a  steward  who  afterwards 
was  replaced  by  a  regular  innkeeper  as  tenant. 
Throughout  these  changes  the  family  crest 
or  arms  remained  on  the  front  of  the  building. 
Or  sometimes  the  manor-house  was  turned  to 
other  uses  and  an  inn  was  built  close  by,  and 
the  coat  of  arms  hung  over  the  door  in  order 
to  induce  travellers  to  transfer  their  custom 
thither.  Such  is  the  origin  of  the  official 
inn  throughout  feudal  Europe,  but  in  the 
Black  Forest  and  the  Tyrol  the  process  was 
sometimes  completely  reversed.  As  the 
nobility  became  poorer  they  parted  with 
their  estates  and  turned  innkeepers.  One 
can  still  now  and  then  make  the  surprising 


Memorial  Inns 


discovery  that  mine  host  is  by  birth  a  baron, 
actually  entitled  to  bear  the  arms  above  his 
door,  and  that  it  is  his  ancestors  who  sleep 
under  those  magnificent  marble  tombs  in 
the  minster  hard  by. 

Inns  with  heraldic  emblems  for  their  signs, 
or  called  the  Norfolk  Arms,  Dorset  Arms, 
Neville  Arms,  according  to  the  local  land- 
owner, abound  everywhere — the  actual  arms 
scarcely  ever  being  emblazoned  on  account 
of  the  heavy  tax  on  armorial  bearings.  But 
it  is  not  easy  to  trace  their  connection  with 
the  manor-house.  Manors  have  been  alien- 
ated over  and  over  again  ;  with  each  change 
the  sign  on  the  inn  has  usually  been  repainted 
with  the  arms  of  the  new  owner.  One  of  the 
few  exceptions  is  the  Tiger  at  Lindfield, 
which  carries  us  back  to  the  Michelbournes 
of  the  fourteenth  century. 

For  a  characteristic  example  of  a  manorial 
inn  we  must  invite  our  readers  to  visit  the 
sleepy  town  of  Midhurst,  venerable  in  its 
winding  streets  of  projecting  upper  stories, 
deeply  moulded  eaves  and  gables ;  a  town 
nestling  among  the  gentler  slopes  of  the  South 
Downs,  on  the  banks  of  that  sweetest  and 
most  musical  of  trout  streams,  the  Sussex 
Rother.  Here  is  an  old  inn,  far  away  from 

a— (2244) 


8 


Old   Country  Inns 


the  great  roads  which  no  vandal  has  yet 
ventured  to  rebuild.  The  older  portion  dates 
from  about  1430,  and  no  doubt  stands  on  the 
site  of  the  original  manor-house  of  the  De 
Bohuns.  It  is  an  excellent  example  of  an 


The  Spread  Eagle,  Midhurst 

early  timber-framed  house  of  the  better  class, 
with  massive  old  oak  ceilings,  ingle-nooks 
and  "  down  "  fires.  The  old  fireplaces  and 
recessed  ovens  are  pronounced  by  experts  to 
be  genuine  fourteenth-century  work.  A 
very  large  addition  was  made  in  1650,  when 
the  stables  were  also  built.  This  latter  por- 
tion will  not  be  regretted  by  the  visitor  who 


Manorial  Inns  9 

loves  more  comfort  and  cheery  surroundings 
than  is  possible  in  a  conscientiously  preserved 
fourteenth-century  hotel. 

In  clearing  away  the  paint  from  one  of 
the  panelled  rooms  at  the  Spread  Eagle  an 
inscription  was  discovered :  "  The  Queen's 
Room/'  possibly  referring  to  the  much 
travelled  Queen  Elizabeth  who  was  enter- 
tained "marvellously,  nay  rather  excessively," 
by  Sir  Anthony  Browne,  first  Viscount 
Montagu,  at  Cowdray,  in  1591.  A  melan- 
choly interest  attaches  to  the  sign  of  the 
Spread  Eagle.  It  was  the  crest  of  the 
Montagu  family,  which  came  to  an  end 
in  1793  with  the  drowning  of  the  last 
Viscount  Montagu  at  Schaffhausen,  on  the 
Rhine,  in  the  very  same  week  that  his 
splendid  mansion  at  Cowdray  was  destroyed 
by  fire. 

It  is  worth  noting  that  the  double-gabled 
house  in  the  foreground  of  our  first  picture 
of  the  Spread  Eagle  (once  also  an  inn,  now 
a  cosy  temperance  hotel)  was  built  early  in 
the  seventeenth  century  by  an  ancestor  of 
Richard  Cobden. 

On  royal  manors  the  crown  was  more 
frequently  employed  as  a  distinguishing  mark 
of  the  manorial  hall  than  the  royal  arms. 


10 


Old  Country  Inns 


Inns  having  for  their  signs  the  King's  Arms 
have  usually  assumed  this  title  during  the 
Reformation  period  when  the  royal  arms 
were  ordered  to  be  set  up  in  the  churches. 
An  exception  is  the  Kings  Arms  Hotel  at 


The  Spread  Eagle,  Midhurst 

Godalming,  which  has  every  reason  to  claim 
to  be  the  original  inn  of  the  royal  manor. 
The  present  building  is  not  much  more  than 
two  centuries  old,  a  fine  substantial  example 
of  red-brick  domestic  architecture  in  the 
reign  of  good  Queen  Anne.  An  oak -panelled 


Manorial    Inns  11 

room  is  shown  to  visitors  as  that  in  which 
Peter  the  Great  Czar  of  Russia  slept  during 
his  visit  to  England.  The  landlord's  bill  on 
this  occasion  is  preserved  as  a  curiosity  in 
the  Bodleian  library.  The  items  of  the  bill 
are  as  follows  :  Breakfast — half  a  sheep,  a 
quarter  of  lamb,  ten  pullets,  twelve  chickens, 
three  quarts  of  brandy,  six  quarts  of  mulled 
wine,  seven  dozen  of  eggs,  with  salad  in  pro- 
portion. At  dinner  the  company  had  five 
ribs  of  beef  weighing  three  stone,  one  sheep 
weighing  fifty  pound,  three  quarters  of  lamb, 
a  shoulder  and  loin  of  veal  boiled,  eight 
pullets,  eight  rabbits,  two-and-a-half  dozen 
sack  and  one  dozen  of  claret.  The  number 
of  guests  was  twenty-one. 

There  is  another  old  inn  at  Godalming  with 
the  sign  of  Three  Lions.  We  have  not  been 
able  to  obtain  any  authentic  information 
about  its  history,  and  it  may  be  only  a  coinci- 
dence that  the  royal  arms  before  Edward  III 
quartered  the  arms  of  France  consisted  of 
three  lions  on  a  shield. 

Even  if  inns  that  can  prove  their  authentic 
manorial  origin  are  few  and  far  between, 
this  class  of  hostelry  must  once  have  been  the 
most  important  of  all.  The  nomenclature 
of  the  thirteenth-century  manor  is  preserved 


12  Old  Country    Inns 

in  every  detail  of  the  modern  inn.  The 
hosteller  remains  as  the  ostler,  who  now 
usually  confines  his  attention  to  four-footed 
visitors ;  the  chamberlain  has  changed  his 
sex  (though  only  since  the  days  of  Sir  Roger 
de  Coverley)  and  has  become  the  Chamber- 
maid. In  most  old  manor-houses  provisions, 
wine  and  ale  were  served  from  a  special 
department  close  to  the  porch  and  called  the 
11  bower/'  from  Norse  Bur,  meaning  buttery. 
Frequenters  of  a  modern  inn  resort  for  the 
same  purpose  to  the  "  bar."  Lastly,  the 
presiding  genius  in  every  hotel  or  tavern,  no 
matter  how  humble,  is  invariably  referred  to 
as  "  the  Landlord."  The  very  word  "  Inn," 
like  the  French  hotel,  anciently  implied  the 
town  residence  of  a  nobleman.  The  Inns 
of  Court  were  nearly  all  of  them  houses  of 
the  nobility  converted  for  the  purpose 
of  lodging  the  law  students  there.  The 
same  remark  applies  to  the  inns  which 
preceded  the  cloistered  colleges  of  our  older 
universities. 

But  we  usually  know  the  English  inn  by  a 
much  nobler  name — a  name  which  carries 
us  back  to  an  age  many  generations  before 
there  were  any  manorial  lords  to  the  tribal 
chief,  and  beyond  the  tribal  chieftain  to  the 


Manorial  Inns  13 


common  dwelling  of  our  Aryan  forefathers. 
We  generally  refer  to  it  as  "  The  public- 
house."  It  is  the  one  secular  place  of  resort 
where  we  can  all  forget  our  social  differences  ; 
where  millionaire  and  pauper,  nobleman  and 
navvy  can  hob-nob  together  on  equal  ground 
if  they  care  to  do  so.  The  public -house  opens 
its  doors  to  every  well-behaved  citizen  without 
distinction  of  persons.  It  is  the  abiding  witness 
to  the  common  brotherhood  of  man.  For 
the  public -house  is  not  merely  an  institution 
to  provide  lodging  and  refreshment  for  the 
individual  wayfarer,  nor  yet  a  shop  for  the 
sale  of  certain  specific  liquids  ;  it  is  a  place 
where  men  can  meet  to  entertain  each  other, 
and  converse  with  their  fellow  men  on  equal 
terms.  As  such  it  is  hateful  to  the  sectary, 
who  would  fain  see  men  sorted  out  into 
exclusive  coteries  for  the  airing  of  their  own 
opinions  and  class  grievances. 


CHAPTER  II 

MONASTIC  INNS 

RURAL  England,  during  the  two  centuries 
after  the  Conquest,  was  practically  under 
martial  law.  The  hardy  Men  of  Kent  and 
the  Vale  of  Holmsdale  were  strong  enough 
to  retain  some  of  their  ancient  rights  and 
privileges.  Beyond  these  districts  local 
government  was  suppressed  and  a  military 
despotism  took  its  place,  administered  often 
by  half-civilized  chieftains.  One  influence 
alone  was  formidable  enough  to  modify  and 
soften  the  crude  tyranny  of  the  feudal  system 
—that  of  the  Monasteries. 

The  religious  orders  were  the  only  class  who 
had  directly  profited  by  the  new  regime  to 
increase  their  power.  Hitherto  merely 
national  they  now  became,  in  a  way,  part  of 
an  international  system.  Not  that  they 
ceased  to  be  patriotic.  In  the  combinations 
against  regal  misrule  which  produced  the 
Great  Charters,  Bishops  and  Abbots  threw 
in  their  lot  heartily  with  the  lay  barons. 
But  in  themselves  they  formed  at  this  time 

14 


Monastic  Inns  15 


an  almost  independent  authority  with  special 
privileges  dangerous  to  meddle  with,  because 
behind  them  was  the  Universal  Church  and 
its  temporal  head  the  Pope,  now  just  reaching 
the  zenith  of  his  authority. 

It  was  the  religious  orders  that  saved  Eng- 
land from  barbarism.  Each  monastery  was 
a  kind  of  impregnable  city  within  which  all 
the  graces  of  civilization  were  fostered.  Here 
learning,  literature  and  art  were  diligently 
studied  ;  rich  and  poor,  bondman  and  free, 
were  welcomed  as  scholars  if  only  they  proved 
their  ability  to  profit  by  the  tuition.  A 
certain  number  of  manors  were  allotted  to 
the  Church,  and  this  number  was  constantly 
being  increased  by  royal  or  private  benefac- 
tion. The  tenants  of  ecclesiastical  manors, 
more  especially  the  villeins  or  serfs,  were  in 
these  early  times  much  better  treated  than 
those  subject  to  the  secular  lords.  The 
tenures  were  generally  easy,  labour  customs 
could  be  commuted  for  a  small  sum  of  money, 
and  the  serfs  could  acquire  freedom  on  very 
moderate  terms.  Enlightened  forms  of  lease 
were  introduced. 

The  monks  were  the  great  agriculturists 
of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  so  were  concerned  in 
the  maintenance  of  facilities  for  traffic.  Apart 


16  Old  Country  Inns 

from  this  their  one  duty  to  the  State  was  to 
satisfy  the  trinoda  necessitas,  particularly  the 
care  of  roads  and  bridges.  This  was  con- 
sidered a  pious  and  meritorious  duty  often 
rewarded  with  special  indulgences ;  such 
undertakings  were  a  work  of  mercy,  in  that 
they  befriended  the  unfortunate  traveller. 
The  roads  adjoining  a  monastic  estate  were 
usually  kept  in  fair  condition,  as  compared 
with  those  in  other  districts.  The  first 
London  Bridge  was  built  by  the  Prior  of  St. 
Mary  Overie  ;  another  great  endowed  bridge, 
that  over  the  Medway  at  Rochester,  owes  its 
origin  to  the  great  St.  Dunstan.  Nearly  all 
the  picturesque  gothic  bridges  which  still 
survive  were  the  work  of  the  monks.  Travel- 
ling was  in  many  other  ways  directly  fostered 
by  the  monasteries.  Communications  were 
constantly  passing  between  the  various  houses 
of  an  order,  many  of  which  were  on  the  Con- 
tinent. Authority  for  the  election  of  a  new 
abbot  or  a  change  in  the  statutes  would  have 
to  be  obtained  from  Rome.  The  two  cen- 
turies after  the  Conquest  witnessed  a  con- 
tinual rebuilding  and  beautifying  of  the  Abbey 
Churches.  Materials  had  to  be  brought  from 
a  distance,  skilled  artists  engaged,  rich  plate, 
metal  work,  and  ornate  vestments  procured 


Monastic  Inns  17 

for  the  altar -service.  All  this  was  a  great 
stimulus  to  trade. 

The  doors  of  the  monastery  were  open  to  all 
comers,  and  there  were  many  reasons  why 
hospitality  would  be  sought  at  a  religious 
house  in  preference  to  the  manorial  inn. 
Rich  people  resorted  to  them  because  of  their 
comfort  and  security  ;  the  poor  because  there 
was  nothing  to  pay.  No  unpleasant  ques- 
tions were  likely  to  be  asked  ;  so  we  find 
Quentin  Durward  (in  the  novel  of  Sir  Walter 
Scott,  which  gives  us  such  an  excellent  idea 
of  the  period  he  describes,)  always  avoiding 
the  public  inns  and  taking  refuge  at  the 
monasteries  in  order  to  minimize  the  risk 
of  his  secret  mission  being  betrayed.  Most 
of  these  houses  had  been  endowed  by  the 
king  or  nobles,  and  their  descendants  con- 
sidered themselves  at  home  within  the 
precincts. 

These  noble  guests,  especially  when  they 
were  accompanied  by  a  miscellaneous  retinue, 
were  apt  to  be  rather  too  roisterous  and 
turbulent  for  the  cloister.  A  statute  of 
Edward  I  forbids  anyone  to  lodge  at  a  reli- 
gious house  without  the  formal  invitation  of 
the  Superior,  unless  he  be  the  founder,  and 
then  he  must  conform  closely  to  the  rules  and 


18  Old    Country  Inns 

regulations.  The  poor  alone  were  to  retain  the 
right  to  the  grace  of  hospitality  free  of  charge. 
Numerous  later  statutes  were  enacted  with 
the  same  end  in  view.  The  monks  of  Battle 
rebuilt  their  Guest  House  outside  the  Abbey 
Gate  where  it  still  remains  a  most  beautiful 
example  of  fifteenth-century  half-timber  work. 
Long  before  this  time,  however,  another 
expedient  had  been  devised  to  cope  with  the 
increasing  crowd  of  travellers  needing  rest 
and  refreshment. 

Whenever  we  come  across  an  inn  bearing 
the  sign  of  the  Bull  it  is  worth  while  to 
inquire  whether  there  was  formerly  a  religious 
house  in  the  neighbourhood.  We  have  exam- 
ined into  the  history  of  upwards  of  a  hundred 
"  Bulls/'  and  even  where  definite  proof  has 
not  been  forthcoming,  the  circumstantial 
evidence  has  always  been  sufficient  to  arouse 
suspicion.  It  is  especially  a  common  sign  in 
connection  with  a  nunnery.  Thus  the  inns 
of  this  name  at  Dartford,  Barking  and  Mailing, 
all  three  very  ancient,  belonged  to  the  local 
abbeys.  At  Hythe,  on  the  Medway,  a  manor 
of  Mailing  Abbey,  there  is  a  Bull  Inn  ;  and 
another  at  Theale  in  Berkshire,  which  was  the 
property  of  the  prioress  of  Goring.  Elfrida, 
the  mother-in-law  of  Edward  the  Martyr, 


Monastic   Inns 


19 


founded  a  nunnery  at  Reading  in  expiation 
of  the  base  murder  of  that  prince.  This 
nunnery  was  abolished  owing  to  scandals  in 
the  twelfth  century,  but  a  Bull  Inn  still 
flourishes  near  the  site  of  the  Abbey  Gate. 


The  Bull,  Sudbury 

At  Newington,  next  Sittingbourne,  the 
prioress  was  found  strangled  in  her  bed  and 
the  nuns  were  removed  elsewhere,  but  the 
Bull  remains  as  the  chief  inn  to  this  day. 

In  deeds  of  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth 
centuries  relating  to  the  Bull  at  Barking, 
this  house  is  referred  to  as  "  tectum  vel 


20  Old   Country  Inns 

hospitium  vocatum  le  Bole."  Bole  is  the  old 
French  equivalent  of  the  Latin  bulla,  a  seal 
from  which  it  is  clear  that  no  bovine  connec- 
tion is  implied  by  the  sign,  but  merely  that 
the  inn  was  licensed  under  the  seal  of  the 
Abbey.  Some  antiquaries  have  suggested 
that  such  inns  were  tied  houses  where  ale  of 
monastic  brewing  was  sold,  reminding  us 
of  the  current  explanation  of  the  xx  and  xxx 
marks  on  barrels  of  strong  ale,  as  having  been 
originally  the  seals  guaranteeing  the  quality 
in  the  days  when  the  monks  were  the  leading 
brewers.  It  is  true  that  the  peculiar  virtue 
of  the  wells  at  Burton-on-Trent  was  known 
at  a  very  early  period,  and  that  the  ale 
brewed  in  the  local  Abbey  was  an  article  of 
commerce  when  Richard  I  was  king.  Tied 
houses  were  not  uncommon  in  the  Middle 
Ages,  witness  the  Bear  Inn  in  Southwark, 
leased  in  1319  by  Thomas  Drinkwater,  wine 
merchant  to  James  Beauflur,  on  condition 
that  he  purchased  all  his  liquor  from  the  said 
Thomas  Drinkwater,  who  agreed  to  furnish 
all  needful  flagons,  mugs,  cutlery  and  linen. 
On  the  other  hand,  very  few  collegiate  houses 
brewed  ale  beyond  the  needs  of  their  own 
consumption,  and  we  have  not  yet  come 
across  any  lease  binding  their  tenants. 


Monastic  Inns 


21 


Mention  is  often  made  of  a  brewhouse  attached 
to  the  inn.  As  to  the  marks  on  the  barrels 
a  prosaic  solution  is  that  these  are  merely 
excise  marks  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
when  beer  was  taxed  according  to  its  strength. 
Whatever  the  terms  of  its  original  lease 


Pigeon  House  at  the  Bull,  Long  Melford 

may  have  been  the  Bull  profited  by  monastic 
favour  and  protection  to  grow  into  a  big  and 
prosperous  establishment.  It  is  nearly  always 
the  leading  hostelry  of  the  town.  Two  centu- 
ries ago  the  Bull  at  St.  Albans  was  described 
by  Baskerville  as  the  largest  in  England, 


22  Old   Country  Inns 

but  with  the  decay  of  the  coaching  trade 
it  has  retired  into  private  life.  Mr.  Jingle's 
recommendation  of  the  Bull  at  Rochester, 
"  Good  house,  nice  beds/'  might  be  fairly 
applied  to  nearly  every  Bull  Inn  of  our 
acquaintance.  The  sign  is  a  symbol  of  steady- 
going  respectable  old-fashioned  ways,  where 
comfort  is  not  sacrificed  to  economy,  and 
where  the  cellar  and  kitchen  are  alike  irre- 
proachable. Any  remnants  of  antiquity  are 
concealed  behind  a  broad  Georgian  fagade, 
for  good  business  entails  frequent  rebuilding. 
The  Bull  at  Barking  is  now  to  all  appearance 
a  quite  modern  hotel.  Few  would  guess  that 
its  history  could  be  traced  for  seven  hundred 
years,  and  that  twice  during  that  time  it  has 
been  occupied  by  a  single  family  for  more 
than  a  century.  In  1636  it  was  sold  to  St. 
Margaret's  Hospital  in  Westminster,  for  the 
sum  of  one  shilling  ;  and  therefore  continues 
to  be  collegiate  property. 

To  avoid  confusion  we  must  remind  the 
reader  that  the  "  Bull's  Head  "  denotes  the 
crest  of  the  Nevilles  or,  occasionally,  Anne 
Boleyn.  The  Pied  Bull  is  a  whimsical  sign 
found  near  a  cattle  market  or  bull-ring.  A 
few  inns,  too,  received  the  name  of  the  Bull 
in  Elizabethan  or  Jacobean  times  when 


Monastic  Inns  23 

astrology  was  popular,  and  Taurus  happened 
to  be  the  house  ascendant  in  the  horary 
figure.  Thus  in  Ben  Jonson's  "Alchemist "  : 

"  A  townsman  born  in  Taurus  given  the  bull,  or  the 
Bull's  head  ;  in  Aries  the  ram." 

Sometimes  in  place  of  the  official  seal  the 
monastic  inn  bore  for  its  sign  a  picture  or 
carving  of  a  religious  mystery.  Outside  the 
Abbey  Gate,  at  Bury  St.  Edmunds,  is  the 
Angel  Inn,  once  called  the  Angelus  or  Saluta- 
tion ;  there  is  another  Angel  Inn,  probably 
monastic,  in  Guildford.  Both  of  these  are 
famous  for  their  beautiful  Early  English 
crypts,  groined  and  vaulted  in  stone.  The 
Angel  3.t  Grantham  belonged  to  the  Knights 
Templars.  At  Addington  in  Kent  the  Angel 
has  a  very  odd  staircase  of  great  antiquity, 
each  tread  being  a  solid  log  of  timber ;  and 
an  underground  passage,  which  local  gossip 
connects  with  a  priory  at  Ryarsh.  Another 
monastic  Angel  at  Basingstoke  is  said  to  be 
the  subject  of  Ben  Jonson's  coarse  epigram, 
inspired  by  the  departure  of  his  hostess, 
Mrs.  Hope  and  her  daughter  Prudence.  The 
Cock  as  an  emblem  of  St.  Peter,  and  the 
Crosskeys  are  frequently  found.  The  most 
interesting  inn  in  the  city  of  Westminster 
was  the  Cock  and  Tabard,  in  Tothill  Street, 

a— (2244) 


24  Old   Country  Inns 

pulled  down  in  1871.  It  dated  from  the 
reign  of  Edward  III,  and  it  was  here,  according 
to  Stowe,  that  the  workmen  engaged  in  the 
completion  of  the  Abbey  Church  were  paid. 
From  its  yard  two  centuries  later  the  first 
stage-coach  to  Oxford  was  started.  Battle 
Abbey  possessed  several  "  Star "  inns,  the 
best  known  of  which  was  the  Star  at  Alfriston, 
which  may  either  be  named  after  Our  Lady, 
Star  of  the  Sea,  or  after  the  Earl  of  Sussex, 
one  of  whose  badges  was  the  star. 

Semi-religious  signs  such  as  the  Angel,  Star 
and  Mitre  are  not  always  monastic,  nor  need 
they  imply  pre-reformation  origin.  The  Angel 
at  Islington  is,  comparatively  speaking,  a 
mushroom  upstart.  Under  the  sign  of  the 
Angel,  Jacobs,  a  Jew,  opened  in  1650  one  of 
the  first  coffee-houses  in  the  parish  of  St. 
Peter,  Oxford.  A  pious  Roundhead  might 
find  chapter  and  verse  for  the  sign  and  gloat 
over  the  conceit  of  entertaining  an  Angel- 
perhaps  not  unawares.  Puritan  sects  have 
been  known  to  give  the  official  title  of  " Angel " 
to  their  itinerant  preachers.  The  Cock  Tavern, 
in  Fleet  Street,  in  spite  of  the  splendid  gilt 
chanticleer  (generally  attributed  to  Grinling 
Gibbons)  has  no  connection  with  St.  Peter. 
An  advertisement,  printed  in  the  Intelligence 


Monastic  Inns  25 


of  1665,  shows  that  its  old  name  was  the 
Cock  and  Bottle.  Cock  is  still  used  in  some 
parts  of  the  country  for  the  spigot,  or  tap  in 
a  barrel ;  and  the  sign  was  simply  a  short 
way  of  informing  the  bibulous  that  they 
could  obtain  here  ale  both  on  draught  and  in 
bottle. 

A  monastic  inn  far  exceeding  in  world-wide 
fame  all  others,  is  that  Tabard  Inn  in  the 
Borough,  whence  five  hundred  years  ago 
thirty  merry  pilgrims  set  forth  on  a  spring- 
tide morning  on  their  three  days'  journey 
along  the  old  Watling  Street  to  Canterbury. 
The  Tabard  was  a  speculation  of  the  Abbot 
of  Hyde,  Winchester,  and  no  doubt  a  profit- 
able one,  for  its  landlords  were  always  men  of 
character  and  substance  who  would  attract 
guests  of  good  class.  Harry  Bailey,  Chaucer's 
friend,  represented  Southwark  in  two  succes- 
sive parliaments ,  and  another  landlord,  William 
Rutton,  sat  in  Parliament  for  East  Grinstead 
in  1529.  Built  in  1307,  together  with  a 
hostel  for  the  clergy  of  the  monastery,  it 
remained  in  much  the  same  condition  as 
when  Chaucer  sang  its  praises  until  about 
1602.  The  stone-coloured  wooden  gallery,  in 
front  of  which  hung  a  picture  of  the  Canter- 
bury Pilgrimage,  attributed  to  Blake,  and  the 


26  Old   Country  Inns 

so-called  "  Pilgrim's  room  "  were  probably 
of  this  period ;  the  rest  was  rebuilt  after  the 
great  fire  of  Southwark,  1676.  Twenty  years 
ago  all  was  demolished,  and  a  gin-shop  on  its 
site  of  modern,  vulgar  red-brick  mock  gothic 
absurdly  claims  the  title  of  "  The  Old  Tabard" 

One  religious  order  never  attempted  to 
divert  the  increasing  stream  of  guests  into 
the  inns.  With  the  Knights  Hospitallers  all 
comers  were  welcomed  ;  the  entertainment 
of  strangers  remained  their  chief  duty.  The 
accounts  of  their  house  in  Clerkenwell  for  the 
year  1337  show  that  they  had  spent  more 
than  their  whole  revenue — at  least  £8,000, 
the  reason  being,  as  the  prior  explains,  the 
hospitality  given  to  strangers,  members  of 
the  royal  family  and  other  grandees  who  all 
expected  to  be  entertained  in  accordance 
with  their  rank.  A  noble  would  occasionally 
send  his  whole  suite  to  the  convent  in  order 
to  save  expense.  The  Knight  monks  finding 
no  Paynim  to  demolish  became  an  order  of 
hotel -keepers,  and  travellers  never  failed  to 
profit  by  the  generous  fare  provided  in  their 
numerous  establishments. 

At  Dorking,  when  the  Knights  departed, 
the  innkeeper  took  their  place  and  continues 
to  keep  up  the  old  traditions.  The  White 


28  Old  Country  Inns 

Cross  is  now  the  White  Horse,  though  not 
from  any  similarity  of  names  but  because  the 
Earls  of  Arundel,  and  afterwards  the  Dukes 
of  Norfolk,  were  lords  of  the  manor.  In  later 
life  the  White  Horse  was  a  famous  coaching 
house,  and  rebuildings  have  apparently 
destroyed  any  feature  older  than  say  three 
centuries.  Perhaps  it  was  in  the  yard  of 
this  house,  where  a  noble  old  vine  spreads 
green  fragrance  over  the  great  white  gables, 
that  Charles  Dickens  met  the  individual  who 
sat  for  the  portrait  of  Tony  Weller.  Deep 
underneath  the  building  are  a  series  of  vaults 
cut  out  of  the  sandstone — maybe  a  relic  of 
the  Hospitallers.  In  one  of  the  lowest  is  a 
curious  old  well.  Tradition  has  it  that  these 
cellars  were  used  in  the  smuggling  days.  To 
lovers  of  the  road  the  quaint  gables  and  broad 
oriels  of  the  White  Horse  are  no  mean  land- 
mark, for  they  are  the  destination  of  a  real 
old-fashioned  coach  and  four  running  hither 
from  Charing  Cross  daily  during  the  summer 
months. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE   HOSPICES 

MENTION  of  the  Knights  Hospitallers  brings 
us  by  an  easy  stage  to  pilgrimages ;  it  was 
the  original  purpose  of  this  order  to  keep 
open  the  route  to  the  Holy  Places  and  to 
assist  the  sick  and  needy  pilgrims  on  their 
journey.  Some  pious  merchants  of  Amalfi 
obtained  permission  to  found  a  refuge  for 
destitute  pilgrims  to  the  Holy  Sepulchre  at 
Jerusalem,  about  the  middle  of  the  eleventh 
century.  At  first  the  brethren  of  St.  John 
were  content  with  nursing  the  sick  and 
relieving  the  hungry  in  the  Jerusalem  Hos- 
pice, and  in  this  work  of  mercy  earned  the 
toleration  of  Saladin  when  he  once  more 
captured  Jerusalem  from  the  Christians. 
But  at  this  time  they  had  already  taken  to 
the  sword  and  had  become  very  active  and 
trenchant  members  of  the  Church  Militant. 
Rich  in  glowing  romance  and  stirring 
adventure  is  the  story  of  the  pilgrimage  to 
Jerusalem,  and  the  many  expeditions  to 
regain  possession  of  the  Holy  Land.  We  are 

29 


30  Old   Country  Inns 

more  concerned  with  the  ordinary  English- 
man. While  the  Crusade  ensured  the  absence 
for  a  season  of  a  goodly  number  of  turbulent 
lords  and  truculent  retainers,  he  was  at 
liberty  to  visit  the  shrines  of  his  own  country. 
At  Glastonbury  was  the  chapel  of  St.  Joseph 
of  Arimathea  and  the  sacred  Thorn,  as 
venerable  as  anything  in  Christendom. 
Hardly  less  ancient  was  the  shrine  of  the  first 
martyr,  St.  Alban  ;  while  at  Durham  he  might 
kneel  in  reverence  before  the  relics  of  the 
great  St.  Cuthbert  and  the  Venerable  Bede. 
St.  Ethelbert  of  Hereford  and  St.  Edmund 
at  Bury  St.  Edmunds  would  equally  invite 
the  suffrages  of  their  clients. 

Pilgrimages  played  their  part,  and  a  very 
important  one  too,  in  the  making  of  England. 
They  gave  the  ordinary  man  an  opportunity 
to  travel.  A  subject  race  of  stolid  peasantry, 
who  otherwise  would  never  have  left  the 
confines  of  their  lord's  estate,  were  encouraged 
to  go  on  a  long  journey  and  see  what  the 
world  outside  was  like.  If  any  man  wished 
to  go  on  a  pilgrimage  he  needed  only  a  scrip 
and  staff  consecrated  by  his  parish  priest. 
So  furnished  no  lord  could  detain  him.  By 
virtue  of  his  pious  and  meritorious  vow  he 
would  find  friends  and  assistance  everywhere. 


The  Hospices  31 


The  most  desperate  characters  would  respect 
the  sanctity  of  his  profession  •  if  a  robber 
found  that  his  victim  was  a  pilgrim  he  restored 
all  that  he  had  taken.1  During  his  absence, 
any  monastery  was  prepared  to  take  charge 
of  his  affairs,  nor  could  any  legal  proceedings 
be  taken  against  him  until  his  return.  Pil- 
grimages were  the  thin  end  of  the  wedge 
which  was  destined  to  shatter  the  whole 
feudal  system.  They  sowed  the  seeds  of  the 
great  Revolt  of  the  peasants  under  Richard 
II.  They  instilled  into  the  heart  of  the 
people  that  roving  restless  spirit  that  made 
the  Englishman  the  most  successful  coloniser 
the  world  has  ever  known. 

Under  the  very  curfew  the  torch  of  liberty 
was  smouldering.  It  is  significant  that  nearly 
all  the  places  of  popular  pilgrimage  estab- 
lished between  the  eleventh  and  fourteenth 
centuries  had  a  political  basis.  The  figure 
of  the  last  king  of  the  old  English  stock 
stood  out  bright  against  the  darkness  of  Eng- 
land, trodden  under  foot  by  the  foreigner. 
Memories  of  peace,  prosperity,  and  independ- 
ence gathered  round  his  name,  and  while 
men  were  clamouring  for  the  good  laws  of 
Edward  the  Confessor,  throngs  of  pilgrims 

1 "  Paston  Letters,"  III,  304. 


32  Old   Country  Inns 

hastened  to  implore  intercession  of  the  Saint ; 
to-day  his  tomb  in  the  Abbey  of  Westminster 
is  the  most  hallowed  spot  for  every  true 
Englishman.  A  century  later  the  scene  of 
the  martyrdom  at  Canterbury  was  attracting 
even  vaster  crowds,  nearly  one-tenth  of  the 
whole  population  of  the  country  resorting 
hither  for  worship  in  a  single  year.  We  may 
well  believe  that  they  came  to  reverence 
St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury,  as  not  merely  a 
devout  ascetic,  but  as  the  first  Commoner 
of  English  birth  who  dared  to  brave  the 
absolute  power  of  the  King. 

There  were  several  quite  unauthorised  pil- 
grimages of  political  origin.  Thomas,  Earl 
of  Lancaster,  who  had  headed  the  barons 
in  their  agitation  against  Edward  II  and  the 
royal  favourites,  became,  after  his  execution, 
a  saint  in  popular  estimation  ;  pilgrimages 
were  organised  to  Pontefract  as  well  as  to 
a  picture  of  the  "  Saint"  set  up  in  St.  Paul's 
Cathedral  in  spite  of  royal  protests.  By  a 
strange  revulsion  of  sentiment  the  tomb  of 
Edward  II,  himself  one  of  the  least  desirable 
of  kings,  became  a  place  of  pilgrimage ;  and 
a  special  inn  had  to  be  built  at  Gloucester  to 
accommodate  those  who  wished  to  make 
their  prayers  and  vows  on  his  behalf.  The 


The  Hospices  33 


good  Simon  de  Montfort,  although  he  died 
under  excommunication,  was  accounted  a 
saint ;  and  Latin  hymns  and  versicles  were 
composed  for  his  office.1 

Of  all  the  devotional  pilgrimages  none 
could  stand  in  comparison  with  Our  Lady 
of  Walsingham.  It  may  be  regarded  as  illus- 
trative of  the  English  character  that  this 
shrine  grew  into  notoriety,  without  any 
startling  miracle,  from  simple  and  homely 
beginnings.  A  pious  Norfolk  lady  caused  a 
little  wooden  house  to  be  built  in  imitation 
of  the  Holy  House  at  Nazareth  and  invited 
her  neighbours  to  join  with  her  there  in 
meditation  on  the  mystery  of  the  Immacu- 
late Conception.  With  time  and  a  great 
concourse  of  pilgrims  came  an  elaboration 
of  legend  and  a  variety  of  foreign  acces- 
sories, maybe  exaggerated  in  the  half  satirical 
description  given  by  Erasmus.  But  when  the 
true  unvarnished  story  of  Walsingham  comes 
to  be  written  it  will  show  that  to  the  very  end 
a  degree  of  sober  good  sense  controlled  the 
authorities  there. 

In  the  fourteenth  century  pilgrimages  had 
become  the  fashion  for  all  classes.  With 

1  See  also  J.  J.  Jusserand.  "  English  Wayfaring  Life," 
p.  342. 


34  Old   Country  Inns 

kings  and  nobles  they  were  a  ceremonial 
duty.  The  sick  man  went  to  regain  his 
health  and  discovered  it,  maybe,  on  the  breezy 
heath  or  sunny  downs  long  before  he  reached 
the  Shrine.  The  simple  devout  soul,  no 
doubt,  found  in  the  restful  minster  the  reli- 
gious consolation  he  came  in  search  of.  More 
worldly  people  enjoyed  an  inexpensive 
holiday.  Merchants  went  on  pilgrimages  to 
avoid  their  creditors.  During  their  absence 
an  uncomfortable  "  slump  "  in  business  could 
be  tided  over.  Chaucer  half  conveys  a  sly 
suggestion  that  this  was  the  motive  under- 
lying the  presence  of  the  merchant  in  the 
"Canterbury  Tales  "  : 

"  There  wiste  no  wight  that  he  was  in  debt." 
Workmen  weary  of  a  thankless  task  found  a 
pretext  in  a  pilgrimage  for  going  off  on  the 
quest  of  a  new  master.  An  idle  apprentice 
had  an  excuse  ready  at  hand  for  exchanging 
the  dull  city  workshop  for  a  week  in  the 
Kentish  orchards.  A  villein  might  succeed 
in  reaching  some  distant  town  where  he  could 
live  unbeknown  by  his  lord  for  the  necessary 
year  and  a  day  which  meant  permanent 
freedom.  Statutes  were  passed  over  and 
over  again  to  restrain  these  abuses,  but  they 
were  all  evaded.  The  pilgrimage  was  an 


The  Hospices  35 


institution  hallowed  from  time  immemorial, 
and  none  could  gainsay  the  right  of  every 
Christian  man  to  take  in  hand  his  scrip  and 
staff. 

Imagine  the  motley  procession  almost 
ceaseless  from  morn  till  eve  on  the  Roman 
roads  to  the  North  through  St.  Albans,  East- 
ward to  Canterbury,  or  Westward  by  Reading 
or  Salisbury  towards  the  favoured  resort. 
Ladies  of  rank  in  their  horse-litters  or  rich 
tapestried  carriages  ;  peasants  in  their  spring- 
less  two- wheeled  dog-carts.  Then  a  company 
of  middle -class  people  on  horseback,  all  of 
them,  men  and  women  alike,  well  able  to 
manage  their  steeds.  The  very  poor  travelled 
on  foot,  and  many  better  class  trod  barefoot 
some  portion  of  the  Walsingham  green  way 
as  a  penitential  exercise.  Lame,  halt  and 
blind  negotiated  their  journey  as  best  they 
could.  The  pilgrim  roads  were  fairly  good ; 
Watling  Street  ran  almost  straight  as  an  arrow 
as  it  was  set  out  by  the  Roman  engineers 
from  Deptford  to  Canterbury.  All  roads 
were  said  to  lead  to  Walsingham,  and  that 
through  Ware  and  Newmarket,  if  not  Roman, 
was  nearly  as  direct.  Pilgrims  on  horse- 
back from  the  West  of  England  might  utilize 
the  so-called  "  Pilgrims'  Way  "  to  Canterbury, 


36  Old   Country  Inns 

but  by  the  fourteenth  century  the 
Kentish  portion  had  been  broken  up  into  a 
series  of  feeders  to  the  Watling  Street.  A 
similar  bridle  path  ran  from  Newmarket 
towards  Fakenham  on  the  Walsingham  route. 

When  night  fell  these  wayfarers  would  tax 
all  available  resources  for  their  shelter  and 
sustenance.  At  the  manor-house  they  were 
very  unwelcome ;  the  lord  had  good  cause 
to  detest  the  idea  of  poor  people  going  on 
pilgrimage.  The  monastery  could  only 
receive  a  small  proportion.  Many  needed 
nursing  as  well  as  rest.  And  so  a  special 
form  of  lodging-house — half  inn,  half  charit- 
able institution  had  to  be  devised.  The  great 
Hospice  at  Jerusalem,  which  provided  for 
fully  a  thousand  visitors  at  one  time,  was 
regarded  as  the  model,  but  the  idea  is  much 
older.  At  Cebrero,  in  Northern  Spain,  there 
is  a  Hospicio  Real,  founded  in  836  by  King 
Alphonso  II,  for  pilgrims  crossing  the  pass  of 
Piedrafita  on  the  way  from  Segovia  to  St. 
James  of  Compostella.  St.  John's  Hospital 
at  Winchester  claims  to  have  been  originally 
founded  by  St.  Brinstan  about  the  year  930 
for  sick  and  poor  pilgrims  to  St.  S within. 

For  the  Canterbury  pilgrims  there  were 
many  of  these  hospices.  That  at  Rochester, 


The  Hospices  37 


a  private  benefaction,  we  have  already  men- 
tioned. The  George  Inn,  which  still  can  show 
a  fine  Early  English  crypt,  may  also  be  des- 
cribed as  a  pilgrims'  inn,  though,  perhaps, 
like  that  at  St.  Albans,  for  the  better  class 
of  people.  There  was  a  pilgrims'  resting 
house  at  Bapchild,  near  Sittingbourne.  Os- 
pringe,  near  Faversham,  takes  its  name  not 
from  the  spring  which  used  to  babble  so 
pleasantly  along  the  water  lane,  but  from 
the  great  hospice  founded  by  Henry  III. 
By  a  similar  "  derangement  of  epitaphs  "  the 
hospice  at  Colnbrook  has  developed  into  the 
Ostrich  Inn.  A  considerable  portion  of  the 
hospice  at  Ospringe  survives  to  this  day  in 
half-timbered  buildings  around  the  Crown  Inn, 
and  the  chapel  is  said  to  form  the  foundations 
of  the  Ship  Inn  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
road.  It  is  more  likely  that  this  inn  stands 
on  the  site  of  the  separate  establishment 
provided  for  lepers.  This  hospice  must  have 
been  of  great  extent  and  provided  accommo- 
dation for  rich  and  poor  alike.  A  master 
and  three  regular  brethren  of  the  Order  of 
the  Holy  Cross  were  to  superintend  the  work 
of  hospitality  and  nursing.  Owing  to  an 
outbreak  of  the  plague  in  the  reign  of  Edward 
IV  the  brethren  forsook  the  place  in  a  panic 


38  Old   Country  Inns 

and  died  without  taking  care  to  choose 
their  successors.  The  property  escheated  to 
the  Crown ;  hence  the  presence  of  the 
Crown  Inn. 

Canterbury  abounded  in  hospices  of  various 
kinds,  some  specially  reserved  for  the  poorer 
clergy.  The  fourteenth  century  fa$ade  and 
vaulted  lower  storey  of  one  of  these  still 
survives  in  the  High  Street.  Originally  estab- 
lished by  St.  Thomas  himself,  it  was  rebuilt 
by  Archbishop  Stratford,  whose  regulations 
provided  that  every  pilgrim  in  health  should 
have  one  night's  lodging  to  the  cost  of  four- 
pence  (about  five  shillings  in  modern  money)  ; 
the  weak  and  infirm  were  to  be  preferred  to 
the  hale,  and  women  upwards  of  forty  years 
were  to  attend  to  the  bedding  and  administer 
medicaments  to  the  sick. 

At  Maidstone,  there  was  a  large  hospice 
for  pilgrims  travelling  to  Canterbury  by 
Mailing  and  Charing.  St.  Peter's  Church  was 
formerly  the  Chapel  of  this  institution.  At 
Reading  the  hospice  was  founded  by  Abbot 
Hugh  about  1180  and  dedicated  to  St.  John 
the  Baptist.  A  sisterhood  of  eight  widows 
ministered  to  the  wants  of  the  pilgrims.  We 
may  mention  also  the  hospitals  of  St.  N Giles 
and  St.  Ethelbert  at  Hereford,  both  of 


The  Hospices  39 


very  ancient  date.  At  the  latter  alms  were 
distributed  to  a  hundred  poor  people  daily. 

Under  the  sign  of  the  George  Inn  we  can 
often  detect  the  successor  to  a  pilgrims' 
hostel  dedicated  to  St.  George  of  the  Dragon. 
The  George,  at  Glastonbury,  the  very  finest 
existing  example  of  an  inn  built  in  stone 
during  the  Perpendicular  period,  was  founded 
by  Abbot  Selwood  in  1489,  and  provided 
board  and  lodging  to  pilgrims  free  of  charge 
for  two  days.  The  George  at  St.  Albans,  is 
more  suggestive  in  its  present  state  of  a  cosy 
well-ordered  coaching  inn  of  the  Georgian 
period,  with  nothing  visible  of  antiquity 
except  its  panelled  staircase  and  beautiful 
old  furniture.  But  its  records  carry  us  back 
to  1401,  and  in  1448  it  received  a  licence 
from  the  Abbot  for  the  celebration  of  low 
mass  in  the  private  chapel  on  account  of  the 
many  noble  and  worthy  personages  who 
resorted  thither  when  on  pilgrimage  to  the 
Cathedral.  At  another  George  and  Dragon 
hospice  at  Wymondham,  the  Saint  has  suc- 
cumbed to  the  reptile,  and  the  Green  Dragon 
presides  alone  on  the  signboard. 

Pilgrims  to  shrines  beyond  sea  were  not 
forgotten.  At  Dover  the  Maison  Dieu  was 
built  and  endowed  by  Hubert  de  Burgh, 

4— (8244) 


40  Old  Country  Inns 

the  great  Justiciary,  in  the  reign  of  Edward 
III  ;  and  on  crossing  to  Calais  the  adventurer 
found  another  Maison  Dieu,  the  first  of  a 
long  chain  of  resting-places  on  the  way  to 
Rome,  the  Three  Kings  at  Cologne,  or  Roca- 
madour,  in  Guyenne,  according  as  his  fancy 
or  devotion  might  direct  him. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE   RISE   OF  THE   TOWNS 

EVERY  high  road  leads  sooner  or  later  to  a 
market  town,  and  in  that  town  the  tourist 
may  be  sure  of  finding  a  White  Hart  Inn. 
The  White  Hart  is  the  commonest  of  signs  all 
through  England.  Half-timbered  and  ram- 
bling, with  the  marks  of  decrepit  old  age  and 
long  service  writ  large  all  over  it,  this  inn  is 
in  evidence  near  the  market-place,  often  in 
a  street  of  the  same  name,  to  remind  us  of 
its  importance  in  the  days  gone  by.  Some- 
times, as  at  Guildford  and  Brent  wood,  the  old 
building  lies  hidden  behind  a  more  modern 
front.  When  the  builder  has  laid  violent 
hands  on  a  White  Hart,  title-deeds  or  other 
authentic  records  of  its  antiquity  are  in  nearly 
every  case  available. 

A  vague  tradition  attempts  to  explain 
these  inns  as  royal  posting-houses,  it  being 
supposed  that  stations  to  supply  fresh  horses 
for  the  royal  journeys  were  first  established 
during  the  last  years  of  Edward  III.  Un- 
doubtedly the  White  Hart  inns  all  date  from 

41 


42 


Old  Country  Inns 


the  beginning  of  the  reign  of   Richard  II. 
After  the  scandals  and  misrule  during  the 


The  White  Hart,  Brentwood 

long  dotage  of  his  father,  the  nation  centred 
all  their  hopes  in  the  young  king  who  showed 
promise  of  becoming  a  wise  and  able  ruler. 


The  Rise  of  the  Towns  43 

The  policy  of  the  good  Parliament  would 
once  more  govern  in  the  council,  and  it  seemed 
a  happy  omen  when  he  took  for  his  badge 
the  white  stag  with  a  collar  of  gold  around 
his  neck.  This  legend,  portrayed  on  so  many 
signboards,  was  a  delight  of  the  mediaeval 
romantic  writers  :  the  white  hart  was  never 
to  be  taken  alive  except  by  one  who  had 
conquered  the  whole  world.  Its  oldest  form 
appears  in  the  pages  of  Aristotle  who  relates 
how  Diomedes  consecrated  a  white  stag  to 
Diana  ;  and  how  it  lived  for  a  thousand  years 
before  it  was  killed  by  Agathocles,  King  of 
Sicily.  Pliny  gives  Alexander  the  Great,  and 
later  writers  Julius  Caesar  and  Charlemagne, 
as  the  Emperors  who  captured  the  young 
white  stag  and  released  it  after  decorating 
it  with  the  golden  band.  On  the  Dorchester 
road,  near  Stowminster,  there  used  to  be 
an  inn  with  this  kingly  stag  painted  for  a 
sign,  and  underneath  the  following  lines 
translated  from  a  mediaeval  quatrain  by 
some  not  very  conscientious  scholar  who 
has  imported  Caesar,  stag  and  all,  into  the 
West  of  England  : 

."  When  Julius  Caesar  landed  here, 
I  was  then  a  little  deer, 
When  Julius  Caesar  reigned  King, 


44  Old  Country  Inns 

Round  my  neck  he  put  this  ring ; 
Whoever  shall  me  overtake, 
Spare  my  life  for  Caesar's  sake  !  " 

But  when  we  begin  to  inquire  into  the 
actual  title-deeds  of  the  White  Hart  inns, 
we  find  ourselves  in  the  midst  of  movements 
of  far  deeper  import  than  the  outburst  of 
national  loyalty  on  the  signboards.  The 
story  of  a  great  mediaeval  fiscal  policy  ;  the 
birth  of  home  manufactures  ;  the  struggle 
of  the  towns  for  municipal  rights.  The  sign 
of  the  White  Hart  marks  a  turning-point  in 
the  great  social  and  industrial  revolution 
which  was  to  bring  to  the  great  body  of 
Englishmen  prosperity  and  freedom. 

No  country  could  compare  with  England, 
during  the  Middle  Ages,  for  the  production 
of  wool.  From  the  twelfth  century  onwards 
wool  was  almost  the  only  export  and  the 
principal  source  of  wealth  for  landowners 
and  farmers.  So  important  a  trade  was 
bound  to  receive  the  attention  of  Chancellors 
in  search  of  a  new  tax.  Accordingly,  early  in 
the  thirteenth  century,  a  system  was  devised 
by  which  no  wool  could  possibly  be  exported 
until  it  had  contributed  its  quota  to  the  royal 
treasury.  Wool,  as  well  as  some  other  raw 
materials,  such  as  skins,  lead  and  tin,  had  to 


The  Rise  of  the  Towns  45 

be  brought  for  sale  to  an  appointed  place 
called  the  Staple,  where  the  trade  was  under 
the  superintendence  of  a  special  corporation 
whose  seal  must  appear  on  every  bale.  The 
Staple  was  at  first  fixed  at  Bruges,  the  chief 
seaport  of  the  Flemish  cloth  manufacturer, 
but  during  the  reign  of  Edward  III,  it  was 
moved  to  England,  and  then  finally,  in  1390, 
established  at  Calais.  Thither  every  dealer 
was  obliged  to  carry  his  bales  by  certain 
approved  routes,  through  Boston,  London, 
Sandwich,  Winchester,  or  Southampton,  and 
these  towns  became  subsidiary  centres  of  the 
Staple.  Staple  Inn,  in  Holborn,  was  an  inn 
for  merchants  of  the  Staple  before  it  became 
a  resort  for  the  lawyers.  In  the  end  the 
merchants  of  the  Staple  grew  into  a  ring  of 
powerful  monopolists,  who  controlled  prices, 
regulated  times  of  sale,  and  even  secured  the 
carrying  trade  in  their  own  hands.  The  sale 
of  English  sheep  abroad,  either  for  breeding 
or  for  shearing,  was  also  forbidden  under  very 
heavy  penalties. 

All  these  vexatious  formalities  in  getting 
his  wool  to  Calais,  and  the  rapacity  of  the 
merchants  of  the  Staple,  disgusted  the  English 
farmer.  As  early  as  1258  Simon  de  Montfort 
urged  that  England  ought  to  be  a  centre  of 


46  Old   Country  Inns 

manufacture,  and  not  merely  a  source  of  raw 
material.  Edward  III,  while  with  one  hand 
consolidating  the  power  of  the  monopolists 
who  controlled  the  Staple,  on  the  other  hand 
stimulated  the  obvious  remedy.  He  invited 
Flemish  weavers  to  settle  in  this  country. 
By  the  end  of  his  reign  the  whirring  sound 
of  the  looms  might  be  heard  all  through 
Norfolk,  Essex  and  Kent.  From  a  country 
of  farmers  which  exported  wool,  England 
was  soon  to  be  transformed  into  a  country 
of  manufacturers  who  exported  cloth.  The 
sale  of  wool  at  the  Staple  dwindled  away, 
while  Yorkshire  tweeds  and  Cotswold  broad- 
cloths were  winning  the  preference  for  price 
and  quality  in  the  most  distant  markets. 

The  commercial  prosperity  of  England  is 
generally  said  to  have  been  built  up  on  the 
industries  arising  out  of  the  woolpack.  But 
in  the  fourteenth  century  capital  was  already 
being  found  for  the  development  of  many 
other  enterprises.  In  1307  there  were  com- 
plaints about  London  fog,  owing  to  the  use  of 
coal  as  fuel.  In  the  Sussex  weald  and  the 
Forest  of  Dean  the  iron  trade  was  so  busy  that 
it  was  necessary  to  import  a  considerable 
portion  of  the  ore  from  Sweden  and  Spain. 
The  excellence  of  English  guns,  it  is  said, 


The  Rise  of  the  Towns  47 

contributed  largely  to  the  victories  of  Henry  V 
in  France.1  The  lost  art  of  brickmaking 
was  reintroduced  by  the  Flemings.  Cheaper 
labour  and  materials  induced  copper-founders 
from  Dinant  and  bell-founders  from  Liege 
to  transfer  their  trades  hither.  Instead  of 
bringing  beer  from  Prussia  the  shipmasters 
found  it  more  profitable  to  export  Maidstone 
ales  into  Flanders. 

Meanwhile,  the  towns  from  a  position  of 
semi-servitude  had  been  step  by  step  attain- 
ing to  liberty,  wealth  and  the  political 
franchise.  London  led  the  way  owing  to  the 
presence  of  merchants  from  Rouen  and  Caen 
who  settled  there  immediately  after  the  Con- 
quest and  took  the  position  of  a  governing 
class  prepared  to  treat  with  the  King  for 
privileges.  The  steps  by  which  the  various 
boroughs  secured  their  rights  of  self-govern- 
ment, free  speech  in  free  meeting  and  equal 
justice  would  need  several  volumes  to  des- 
cribe. They  were  won  by  steady  solid  perse- 
verance, by  customs  allowed  to  grow  up 
unnoticed  during  the  quarrels  between  the 
barons  and  the  royal  favourites,  by  a  direct 
bargain  with  the  lord  of  the  manor,  or  in  a 

1 J.  R.  Green.  "  Town  Life  in  the  Fifteenth  Century," 
I,  55. 


48  Old   Country   Inns 

few  instances  by  less  ingenuous  methods. 
Most  of  the  towns,  like  London,  were  situated 
on  the  royal  demesne.  With  these  the  work 
was  comparatively  easy.  Secure  of  his  ulti- 
mate supremacy,  and  indifferent  to  small 
sources  of  power,  the  king  was  generally 
willing  to  surrender  local  claims  for  a  fixed 
payment  in  money.  A  Corporation  was  a  better 
security  for  the  payment  of  dues  than  petty 
officers  given  to  peculation.  Accordingly, 
from  the  reign  of  Henry  I,  charters  were  granted 
giving  a  progressive  degree  of  liberty,  although 
until  the  reign  of  John  the  King  retained 
the  nomination  of  the  portreeve  or  mayor. 

The  feudal  baron  was  not  so  willing  to  part 
with  his  supremacy.  But  the  nobility  were 
rapidly  becoming  poorer ;  and  the  issue  of  the 
battle  was  ultimately  with  the  strong.  Either 
the  powerful  merchants'  guild,  returning  un- 
wearied to  the  fray  after  each  rebuff,  by  its 
steady  dogged  agitation  ended  in  forcing  a 
compromise,  or  else  the  traders  deserted  the 
place  and  let  it  dwindle  away  into  a  poverty- 
stricken  village.  Sometimes  an  ancient 
charter  was  alleged  to  exist  and  prescriptive 
rights  claimed  before  a  commission  in  the 
King's  Courts ;  and  the  longest  purse  could 
fee  the  most  persistent  counsel. 


The  Rise  of  the  Towns  49 

Much  less  hopeful  were  the  prospects  of 
citizens  whose  lord  was  a  religious  house. 
The  monasteries  were  rich,  well  acquainted 
with  forms  of  law,  and  as  trustees  not  justified 
in  parting  with  their  hereditary  assets. 
Hitherto  promoters  of  progress,  the  monks 
now  began,  to  be  regarded  as  a  stumbling- 
block  on  the  path  towards  freedom.  And 
from  this  arose  the  smouldering  hatred  of  the 
monasteries  that  underlies  so  much  of  the 
literature  of  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth 
centuries.  During  the  great  revolt  of  the 
villeins  the  monasteries  and  bishops'  palaces 
on  the  route  of  the  insurgents  were  all  burnt 
and  sacked  by  the  mob.  At  St.  Albans, 
Cirencester,  and  even  in  the  cinque  port  of 
Romney,  the  struggles  of  the  townsfolk  to 
burst  their  thraldom  were  endless  and  always 
futile.  It  was  organised  force  in  conflict 
with  organised  authority,  and  the  result  was 
that  the  latter  prevailed.  At  Coventry  the 
motto  of  the  two  contending  bodies  was 
divide  et  impera.  The  Merchant  Guild  became 
the  Guild  of  the  Holy  Trinity  and  shared 
with  the  Corpus  Christi  Guild  (of  which  the 
Prior  and  other  Churchmen  were  members) 
all  authority  in  the  town,  nominating  the 
Mayor  and  all  the  important  officials. 


50  Old  Country  Inns 

Simon  de  Montfort,  "  the  father  of  English 
liberty,"  was  the  first  to  recognise  the  growing 
importance  of  the  commercial  middle  classes 
by  summoning  two  burgesses  from  each  of 
the  town  boroughs  to  his  Parliament  in  1264, 
and  their  presence  was  treated  as  a  matter  of 
course  in  subsequent  Parliaments,  though 
they  formed  a  comparatively  insignificant 
factor.  In  the  reign  of  Edward  III,  when  the 
Knights  of  the  Shire  associated  with  them 
to  form  the  future  House  of  Commons,  their 
growing  wealth  and  ability  to  make  terms 
with  the  King  as  a  condition  of  granting 
supplies  was  recognised  and  a  marked  increase 
of  parliamentary  activity  commenced.  Their 
"  petitions  "  became  on  the  assent  of  the  Crown 
Statutes  of  the  Realm,  and  henceforward  the 
Lower  House  was  to  initiate  nearly  all 
legislation. 

And  now  we  can  return  to  our  White  Hart 
inns.  They  were  the  first  inns  to  be  built  by 
the  corporations,  or  at  least  under  their 
licence.  Secure  in  the  possession  of  their 
charter,  proud  of  their  ever-increasing  com- 
merce, hopeful  of  the  future  privileges  and 
reforms  that  were  likely  to  be  obtained  by 
their  burgesses  in  Parliament,  the  towns 
began  to  provide  new  inns  of  a  superior  kind 


The  Rise  of  the  Towns  51 

for  the  merchants  who  came  regularly  to  their 
markets.  They  were  held  direct  from  the 
King,  and  to  the  reigning  king  alone  they 
looked  for  any  future  marks  of  favour.  Hence 
these  inns  almost  invariably  bear  the  badge 


The  Swan,  Felstead 

of  the  reigning  king.  When  Richard  II  was 
deposed  the  White  Hart  gave  place  to  the 
White  Swan  of  Henry  IV,  and  this  latter  is 
nearly  as  common  on  the  signboards.  Barons 
and  earls  might  dispute  and  make  war  on 
one  another  as  to  who  was  the  sovereign  de 
jure ;  the  concern  of  the  towns  was  with 
the  king  de  facto.  The  Commons  regarded 


52  Old  Country  Inns 

each  change  of  dynasty  from  Plantagenet  to 
red  rose  and  from  red  rose  to  white  rose 
with  the  complacency  of  the  Vicar  of  Bray. 
The  old  aristocracy  ruined  themselves  and 
died  out  amid  these  political  disputes  ;  mean- 
while the  burghers  grew  rich  and  their 
posterity  formed  the  nucleus  of  a  new  aris- 
tocracy of  English  race  and  of  more  patriotic 
instincts. 

The  signboards  tell  the  same  tale  all 
through  the  fifteenth  century.  The  Antelope 
of  Henry  VI,  the  White  Lion  of  Edward  IV, 
and  the  White  Boar  of  Richard  III  each  take 
their  turn.  The  changes  they  represented 
meant  little  more  than  incidental  gossip  to 
the  burghers.  All  the  real  life  of  the  citizens 
was  in  their  home  and  trade,  in  their  craft 
guilds,  in  treaties  with  neighbouring  towns, 
or  in  the  little  controversies  of  the  town 
council. 

We  know  only  a  few  incidental  details 
about  the  internal  comforts  of  the  White 
Hart  inns.  The  majority  of  the  guests 
slept  in  large  rooms,  on  couches  or  wooden 
bedsteads.  Only  a  few  very  important  gran- 
dees were  accorded  a  private  camera.  The 
bed  was  a  long  sack -like  mattress  stuffed 
with  straw  or  hay  ;  great  folk  would  carry 


The  Rise  of  the  Towns  53 

with  them  their  own  bed  on  their  journeys. 
Most  people  lay  in  their  ordinary  clothes  on 
the  bed,  though  counterpanes  and  linen  were 
just  coming  into  use.  Carpets  were  chiefly 
employed  like  tapestry  for  hanging  on  the 
walls  and  diminishing  the  continual  draughts. 
The  women  had  their  special  apartments ; 
the  serving  men  slept  on  the  rushes  of  the 
hall,  while  the  grooms  were  left  to  make  the 
best  of  stable  and  barn.  Meals  were  taken 
at  fixed  hours,  at  a  long  movable  table  on  tres- 
tles in  the  hall,  guests  and  servants  sitting 
down  together,  but  placed  according  to  rank. 
Some  of  the  dishes  would  not  commend 
themselves  to  fastidious  moderns,  but  at 
least,  there  was  never  any  lack  of  good 
wholesome  fare ;  loaves,  joints  and  meat 
pasties  all  on  a  gargantuan  scale.  Wines 
of  British  as  well  as  foreign  extraction 
competed  with  the  nut  brown  ale.  Essex 
was  in  those  days  the  vineyard  of  England. 
How  much  we  have  fallen  off  in  the 
capacity  of  our  stomachs  from  the  good 
old  times  of  open-air  life  and  daily  exercise 
on  horseback  may  be  judged  from  the 
following  allowance  of  provisions  granted 
to  Lady  Lucy,  one  of  the  maids  of  honour 
to  Queen  Katherine  of  Aragon  : 


54  Old   Country   Inns 

"  Breakfast — A  chine  of  beef,  a  loaf,  a  gallon  of  ale. 
Luncheon — Bread  and  a  gallon  of  ale. 
Dinner — A  piece  of  boiled  beef,  a  slice  of  roast  meat, 

a  gallon  of  ale. 
Supper — Porridge,  mutton,  a  loaf,  and  a  gallon  of  ale." 

When  the  Warden  of  Merton  College 
travelled  with  two  of  his  fellows  and  four 
servants  from  Oxford  to  Durham  in  1331, 
the  season  being  winter,  their  average  bill 
was  2d.  for  beds  for  the  whole  party,  or  for 
the  servants  alone,  one  halfpenny ;  at  the 
town  inns  of  fifty  years  later  the  price  of  a 
bed  was  one  penny,  and  the  increased  com- 
fort warranted  the  higher  charge.1  The 
private  rooms,  instead  of  being  numbered, 
received  names  according  to  the  subject 
portrayed  on  the  tapestry  hangings.  This 
custom  continued  in  old-fashioned  inns  up 
to  quite  recent  times,  and  has  served  as  the 
basis  of  stage  humour  of  a  sort : 
SCENE.  A  Country  Inn. 

Timothy.  What  rooms  have  you  disengaged,  Waiter  ? 

Waiter .  Why  sir,  there's  the  Moon :    but  I  forget— 
there's  a  man  in  that. 

Timothy.  Eh  !  A    man  in  the  Moon  !  Oh  then  we'll 
not  go  there. 

Waiter.  There's  the  Waterloo  Subscription,  Sir  ;  that's 
full — there's  the  Pope's  Head;  that's  empty,  etc.,  etc.  2 

1  At  the  George  Inn,  Winchester,  in  Elizabeth's  reign,  the  charge 
for  a  feather  bed  for  one  night  was  one  penny ;  for  a  dinner  of 
"  Beef,  mutton,  or  pigge,"  sixpence. 
1  "All  at  Coventry."     By  W.  T.  Montcrieff. 


The  Rise   of  the  Towns  55 

In  the  minute  books  of  the  Grey  Coat 
Hospital,  a  very  valuable  religious  educa- 
tional charity,  we  come  across  a  rather 
startling  entry.  On  Epiphany,  1698, 
"  After  prayers  and  sermon  in  church,  the 
children  and  their  parents  dined  in  Hell." 
Heaven  and  Hell  were  two  public  dining 
rooms  adjoining  the  old  Palace  of  West- 
minster, and  so  named  either  from  the 
hangings  or  other  pictorial  decoration. 


3— (8844) 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  CRAFT  GUILDS  AND  TRADERS'  INNS 

OF  the  writing  of  books  about  the  mediaeval 
guilds  there  seems  to  be  no  end,  and  each 
new  contribution  serves  to  mystify  rather 
than  to  throw  light  on  the  difficulties  of  the 
subject.  From  the  earliest  times,  it  was 
an  inherent  tendency  of  the  Teutonic  races 
to  combine  and  form  guilds.  There  were 
guilds  for  the  building  of  bridges,  for  the 
relief  of  poor  pilgrims,  and  for  almost  every 
imaginable  purpose,  ranging  from  the  organisa- 
tion of  a  municipality  to  the  Saxon  "  frith- 
gild,"  which  undertook  the  punishment  of 
thieves  and  the  exacting  of  compensation 
for  homicides.  As  to  the  craft  guilds  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  some  are  content  to  regard 
them  as  trade  unions,  others  as  similar  to 
our  modern  clubs,  and  a  third  class  of  writers 
assert  that  they  were  purely  religious.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  they  were  capable  of  becoming 
all  three  in  turn. 

No    doubt    the    original   motive  of   these 
guilds  was  to  create  a  monopoly  and  artificial 

56 


The  Graft  Guilds  and  Traders1   Inns  57 

control  over  the  particular  trade,  and  also 
to  obtain  that  security  which  only  an  organ- 
ised association  is  able  to  give  against  tyranny 
and  corruption.  They  comprised  all  ranks, 
wage-earners,  manufacturers,  and  merchants. 
The  weakness  of  such  a  body  was  that  there 
was  no  community  of  interests  as  regards 
the  internal  economy  of  the  industry.  That 
is  to  say,  the  merchants  and  masters  would 
not  be  induced  to  improve  the  position  of 
their  apprentices  or  to  raise  the  wages  of 
journeymen.  The  only  common  ground 
would  lie  in  attempts  to  assert  the  interests 
of  the  trade  at  large  against  the  whole  body 
of  consumers,  or  against  competing  trades. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  Corporation  itself 
was  originally  a  guild  which  had  succeeded 
in  obtaining  a  charter  and  thus  becoming 
the  administrative  authority.  It  would 
regard  with  anxiety  the  creation  of  other 
bodies  which  might  follow  in  its  footsteps 
and  become  very  dangerous  rivals.  Charters, 
indeed,  were  in  the  twelfth  century  being 
bought  from  the  King,  which  rendered  fra- 
ternities dependent  for  their  existence  on 
the  royal  will  alone.  The  weavers  of  London 
lived  in  a  quarter  by  themselves,  with  their 
own  courts  and  raised  their  own  taxes, 


58  Old  Country  Inns 

suffering  no  intrusion  from  the  City  officials. 
Only  by  an  expensive  process  of  boycotting 
was  this  abuse  brought  to  an  end.  When 
once  the  municipalities  perceived  their 
danger,  they  proceeded  ruthlessly  to  reduce 
the  craft  guilds  into  subjection  and  to  limit 
the  purposes  for  which  they  were  permitted 
to  combine. 

And  this  brings  us  to  the  second  period 
in  the  history  of  the  craft  guilds,  when  we 
find  each  trade  forming  itself  into  an  associa- 
tion to  provide  a  burial  fund  for  its  deceased 
members,  masses  for  the  repose  of  their 
souls,  and  to  organise  a  solemn  procession 
and  miracle  play  on  the  annual  festival. 
Behind  the  religious  association  the  union 
for  trade  purposes  remained.  When  the 
secular  powers  of  the  craft  guild  were  more 
clearly  defined,  in  the  fifteenth  century, 
under  the  style  of  a  company,  the  observance 
of  the  mystery  was  often  allowed  to  fall  into 
desuetude.  The  Companies  became  mere 
trustees  of  the  endowments  belonging  to 
the  religious  guilds  and  treated  with  equani- 
mity the  abolition  of  these  trusts  at  the 
Reformation. 

In  the  third  period  the  craft  guilds  as 
Companies  became  a  useful  adjunct  of  the 


The   Graft   Guilds  and  Traders'   Inns  59 

Corporation,  protecting  the  community  from 
overcharges,  settling  disputes  in  the  trade, 
and  generally  forming  courts  of  reference 
on  technical  matters.  The  City  companies 
of  to-day,  though  not  under  any  compulsion 
to  do  so,  still  occasionally  render  service 
of  a  kindred  nature.  The  work  of  the 
Plumbers'  Company,  a  few  years  ago,  in 
arranging  for  the  examination  and  regis- 
tration of  plumbers  will  be  called  to  mind  ; 
the  Apothecaries'  Company  has  also  done 
good  service.  Out  of  the  guilds  of  the  Holy 
Trinity  at  Hull  and  at  Deptford  has  grown 
the  Corporation  of  Trinity  House,  that 
wealthy  philanthropic  body  that  builds  light- 
houses, licenses  pilots,  and  ministers  in 
various  ways  to  the  welfare  of  our  merchant 
shipping. 

At  Headcorn  and  Cranbrook,  in  the  Weald 
of  Kent,  and  again  at  Lavenham  and  Sudbury, 
in  Suffolk,  may  be  seen  many  beautiful 
examples  of  the  halls  of  the  craft  guilds 
now  derelict  and  converted  to  less  noble 
purposes.  Part  of  the  King's  Head  at  Ayles- 
bury  is  supposed  by  experts  to  have  been 
anciently  a  Guildhall.  We  shall  refer  more 
fully  to  this  building  in  another  chapter* 

We   have   seen   that   the   guilds   afforded 


60  Old   Country    Inns 

very  few  advantages  to  the  wage-earners, 
and  according  to  the  natural  tendency  of 
all  such  bodies,  they  ended  in  becoming 
aristocratic  and  exclusive.  They  were  for 
a  long  period  masters  of  the  labour  of 
the  country,  preventing  any  attempts  at 
strikes,  and  securing  that  all  disputes  as  to 
the  rate  of  pay  should  be  settled  by  the 
arbitration  of  their  own  warden.  Vainly 
the  serving -men  of  the  Saddlers  strove  to 
form  a  guild  of  their  own  on  the  harmless 
pattern  of  a  religious  body  with  their  own 
festival  at  Our  Lady  of  Stratford-le-Bow. 
It  was  complained  of  them  that  in  thirteen 
years  their  hire  had  more  than  doubled  the 
ordinary  rate,  and  their  meetings  were  ruth- 
lessly repressed.  The  May-Day  festival  of 
the  Journeymen  Shearers  in  Shrewsbury 
was  suppressed  for  a  similar  reason.1 

Only  one  refuge  remained  for  the  oppressed 
/  workmen — the  inn,  which  for  centuries  was 
to  be  the  place  where  he  could  hold  these 
more  or  less  illegal  meetings  with  his  com- 
rades. In  the  houses  of  call  for  artisans, 
the  workers  discussed  their  grievances, 
hatched  conspiracies  and  strikes,  or  devised 

1  Green.     "  Town    Life    in    the  Fifteenth  Century," 
II,  126. 


The   Graft  Guilds   and  Traders'   Inns   61 

less  drastic  methods  for  the  betterment  of 
their  condition.  At  Kidderminster  there  is  an 
inn  called  The  Holy  Blaise,  after  the  patron 
of  weavers ;  another,  Bishop  Blaise,  exists  in 
the  heart  of  the  City  of  London  in  New  Inn 
Yard.  The  Boar's  Head,  by  the  way,  was 
a  commonly  accepted  emblem  of  St.  Blaise. 


Bricklayers'  Arms,  Caxton 

Many  St.  Crispins  or  Jolly  Crispins  survive 
to  represent  the  shoemaker.  St.  Hugh  was 
another  patron  of  the  shoe  trade,  and  there 
was  once  a  St.  Hugh's  Bones  in  Clare  Market. 
Simon  the  Tanner  is  an  old  house  in  Long 


62  Old  Country    Inns 

Lane,  Bermondsey.  A  later  age  absurdly  re- 
named inns  frequented  by  the  labouring  class 
as  The  Weavers'  Arms,  Carpenters'  Arms, 
Bricklayers'  Arms,  etc.,  etc.  These  inns,  a 
common  occurrence  in  every  large  town,  are 
often  of  old  foundation,  and  incidentally 
commemorate  the  fact  that  in  the  public- 
house  it  was  that  the  wage-earners  first  learnt 
the  art  of  combination  for  their  own  better- 
ment. Here  the  earliest  trade  unions  found 
a  welcome  and  a  home,  with  which  many  of 
their  successors  are  still  content.  The  club 
room  at  the  inn  was  the  cradle  of  the  Friendly 
Societies.  The  Freemasons  have  given  name 
to  a  whole  series  of  taverns.  All  the  numer- 
ous and  generally  well  managed  benefit 
Societies  on  the  pattern  of  the  Foresters, 
Hearts  of  Oak  and  Oddfellows  owe  their  very 
existence  to  the  public-house. 

It  was  anciently  the  custom  for  workmen  to 
be  paid  at  the  nearest  inn,  and  out  of  this, 
during  the  bad  period  at  the  beginning  of  the 
nineteenth  century  grew  a  very  serious  abuse. 
Those  to  whom  was  entrusted  the  duty  of 
engaging  and  paying  various  forms  of  pre- 
carious and  unskilled  labour,  such  as  coal 
whippers  and  porters,  found  it  profitable  to 
become  owners  of  public-houses  where  the 


The   Craft   Guilds   and  Traders1    Inns   63 

unfortunate  men  were  kept  waiting  for  a  job 
which  was  generally  awarded  to  the  individual 
whose  score  was  the  largest.  When  the  men 
returned  from  their  work  they  were  expected 
to  spend  a  considerable  portion  of  their  earn- 
ings for  the  good  of  the  house.  The  Truck 
Act  of  1843  put  an  end  to  this  heartless 
scandal. 

The  Woolpack  and  Fleece  were,  of  course, 


Golden  Fleece,  South  Weald 

the  signs  of  inns  frequented  by  the  merchants 
who  came  to  buy  wool.  At  Guildford  all  the 
alehouses  were  at  one  time  required  to  exhibit 


64  Old   Country  Inns 

a  Woolpack  as  a  token  of  the  leading  com- 
modity in  the  town.  There  is  a  very  fine  old 
Golden  Fleece  Inn  at  South  Weald  in  Essex, 
broad-fronted  and  roomy,  Jacobean  in  style, 
but  fallen  sadly  from  its  old  estate  since  the 
coach  traffic  ceased  on  the  Ipswich  road. 

The  Three  Kings  was  anciently  the  sign  of 
the  mercers,  because  in  the  Middle  Ages  linen 
thread  materials  brought  from  Cologne  had 
the  highest  reputation,  and  were  probably 
stamped  either  with  the  figures  of  the  three 
wise  men,  or  with  three  crowns.  But  the 
Three  Crowns  are  asserted  to  be  more  com- 
monly emblematic  of  the  three  kingdoms  of 
England,  Scotland  and  Ireland.  The  Golden 
Ball  was  another  mercers'  sign,  from  the  arms 
of  Constantinople,  which  was  formerly  the 
centre  of  the  silk  trade.  The  Elephant  and 
Castle  was  the  crest  of  the  Cutlers'  Company. 
However,  the  Elephant  and  Castle,  at  the 
corner  of  Newington  Causeway,  has  a  quite 
different  origin.  The  skeleton  of  an  elephant 
was  discovered  while  digging  a  gravel-pit  near 
this  spot  in  1714.  Elephants  in  mediaeval 
heraldry  were  invariably  represented  as  carry- 
ing a  solidly-built  castle,  a  traveller's  exagger- 
ation of  the  Indian  palanquin.  The  Lion  and 
Castle  indicated  a  dealer  in  Spanish  wines, 


The   Graft   Guilds   and  Traders1   Inns   65 

because  sherry  casks  were  stamped  with  the 
brand  of  the  Spanish  arms. 

Foresters  resorted  for  company  to  the  Green 
Man,  and  the  survival  of  many  old  taverns 
of  that  name  reminds  us  that  there  were 
numerous  forests  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
London.  The  Northwood,  or  Norwood,  ex- 
tended from  near  the  Green  Man  at  Dulwich 
to  Croydon,  where  there  is  another  Green  Man 
Inn.  The  Green  Man  at  Leytonstone  stands 
on  the  verge  of  Epping  Forest.  Wherever 
a  painted  sign  exists  on  one  of  these  houses  it 
generally  represents  either  an  archer  or  a 
forester  clad  in  Lincoln  green. 

The  Two  Brewers  does  not  denote  that  the 
ale  of  the  two  rival  tradesmen  is  on  sale,  but 
the  manner  in  which  beer  was  anciently 
carried  about  before  the  invention  of  brewers' 
drays.  Two  porters  are  shown  bearing  the 
precious  barrel  slung  between  them  on  a  poles 

Last  of  all  to  be  mentioned  among  the  inn . 
which  remind  us  of  disappearing  occupations 
are  those  found  usually  where  the  ancient 
green  ways  join  the  main  roads  to  London. 
The  drover  and  his  herd  of  tired  wild-eyed 
cattle  is  no  longer  a  feature  on  the  roadside. 
It  is  cheaper  and  more  convenient  to  send 
oxen  to  market  by  cattle-train.  But  the  long 


66  Old  Country  Inns 

green  lanes,  touching  here  and  there  a  market 
town,  extend  through  the  Eastern  and  Midland 
counties,  right  up  to  the  North  of  England. 
Lonely  and  deserted,  practicable  only  by  the 
pedestrian  or  the  rider  of  a  sure-footed  pony, 
scarcely  ever  used  except  by  the  county 
officials,  whose  duty  it  is  to  maintain  the 
right  of  way,  they  remain  as  an  ideal  hunting 
ground  for  the  naturalist.  When  the  explorer, 
tired  and  hungry  after  many  miles  of  rough 
journeying,  finds  shelter  at  the  Drover's  Call, 
Butcher's  Arms,  or  Jolly  Drovers,  the  purpose 
of  these  old  half-forgotten  by-roads  is  made 
clear  to  him,  and  he  can  meditate  during  his 
hour  of  rest  on  the  changes  which  fifty  years 
have  made  in  the  methods  of  transport. 


JftC 


1 


Porch,  Chalk   Church,    Kent 


CHAPTER  VI 

CHURCH   INNS   AND   CHURCH  ALES 

WE  had  occasion  a  year  or  two  ago  to  visit 
a  small  country  town  where  several  public- 
houses  were  scheduled  previous  to  being  closed 
under  the  Licensing  Act.  It  was  impossible 
to  defend  the  continuance  of  the  licences. 
The  high  road  which  ran  through  the  lower 
part  of  the  town  was  well  provided  with  inns 
for  the  passing  traveller.  These  condemned 
inns,  nine  or  ten  in  number,  were  all  in  a  side 
street  leading  to  the  church  at  the  top  of  the 
hill.  We  inquired  of  a  local  antiquary,  an 
enthusiast  on  the  subject  of  inns,  whether  he 
could  account  for  the  existence  of  so  many 
in  a  situation  apparently  ill-adapted  for  a 
prosperous  trade,  and  received  a  surprising 
explanation. 

"  They  loved  God  in  those  days/1  muttered 
the  old  gentleman,  with  a  sigh  of  regret,  "  and 
loving  God  each  man  loved  his  brother  also. 
In  the  church  they  learnt  the  mysteries  of 
the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  ;  the  public-house 
gave  them  the  opportunity  of  realising  the 

67 


68  Old   Country  Iniis 

Kingdom  of  Heaven  in  the  practice  of 
brotherly  love.  It  is  a  survival  of  the  early 
Christian  Agape.  '  Exercise  hospitality  one 
to  another/  says  the  Apostle — for  this  is  the 
full  meaning  of  Trpoa-\a^dvecrOai  in  Romans 
xv,  7.  In  the  good  old  days  men  did  not 
go  into  a  public-house  to  drown  their  wits  in 
gin,  but  to  buy  each  other  good  wholesome 
ale  in  Christian  fellowship.  And  as  every 
man  went  to  church — of  course,  there  had  to 
be  many  alehouses  !  >J 

We  have  since  discovered  a  less  picturesque 
though  much  more  plausible  origin  of  these 
superfluous  inns  which  will  be  given  in  an- 
other chapter.  Nevertheless,  allowing  for  our 
good  friend's  flamboyant  enthusiasm,  there 
is  an  element  of  truth  in  his  contention. 
Wherever  there  is  a  church  we  may  be  certain 
of  finding  an  old  inn  hard  by.  In  pre- 
reformation  times  the  Church,  while  not 
exactly  countenancing  the  alehouse,  looked 
not  sourly  on  drinking  customs  when  indulged 
in  with  discretion.  The  training  of  the  char- 
acter in  self-restraint  is  a  great  ideal  of  the 
Catholic  Church.  The  alternation  of  festival 
and  fast  is  one  integral  feature  of  the  process. 
Fasting  alone  is  insufficient.  Continual  absti- 
nence results  in  self -mutilation  ;  the  appetite 


Church  Inns   and   Church  Ales        69 

is  merely  distorted  thereby.  It  is  a  great 
secret  of  the  higher  life  that  where  there  is 
no  temptation  there  can  be  no  victory.  And 
so  the  Church  enjoined  on  our  forefathers  the 
duty  of  feasting  heartily  and  fasting  con- 
scientiously each  in  their  due  season.  A 
great  doctor  of  the  Church  gave  the  maxim 
that  to  be  fasting  after  the  fifth  hour  of  a 
holy-day  was  to  be  ipso  facto  excommunicate. 
Before  inns  became  common  the  parish 
clergy  were  expected  to  entertain  travellers. 
It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  until  the 
thirteenth  century  many  of  the  secular  priests 
were  married  men.  The  Rolls  of  Parliament 
for  1379  contain  a  complaint  that  owing  to  the 
non-residence  of  the  clergy  this  duty  of 
affording  shelter  to  benighted  wayfarers  was 
in  danger  of  lapsing.  In  our  own  boyhood 
it  was  still  the  traditional  custom  for  travellers 
in  remote  districts  to  put  up  at  the  rectory, 
and  this  may  help  to  account  for  the  un- 
necessary size  of  rectories  in  sparsely  popu- 
lated country  parishes.  But  obviously  the 
unmarried  priest  of  the  fifteenth  century 
found  it  more  convenient  to  all  parties  when 
an  inn  was  built  on  his  glebe,  where  it  would 
be  more  or  less  under  his  control,  and  he  could 
be  answerable  for  its  good  conduct. 


70  Old   Country  Inns 

Again,  parishioners  from  outlying  districts 
were  expected  on  high  festivals  to  attend 
morning  and  afternoon  services  at  their 
mother  church.  In  licensing  a  chapel  at 
Smallhythe  in  1509  "  on  account  of  the  bad- 
ness of  the  roads  and  the  dangers  which  the 
inhabitants  underwent  from  the  waters  being 
out/'  Archbishop  Warham  was  careful  to 
stipulate  that  the  people  of  Smallhythe  were 
not  thereby  released  from  their  duties  at  the 
parish  church  of  Tenterden.  Some  accom- 
modation was  necessary  where  those  coming 
from  a  distance  could  rest  and  have  their 
midday  meal  during  the  interval  between 
High  Mass  and  Vespers.  At  Lurgashall,  in 
Sussex,  there  is  a  very  ancient  closed  porch  of 
wood  extending  the  whole  length  of  the  South 
aisle  which  local  tradition  declares  to  have 
been  built  for  this  express  purpose.  Perhaps 
also  the  large  parvise  to  the  west  of  the  tower 
at  Boxley,  like  in  form  to  the  antechapels  in 
the  colleges  at  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  was  a 
shelter  of  this  kind.  Mr.  Baring-Gould  thinks 
that  the  deep  porches  in  the  French  cathe- 
drals were  intended  to  shelter  the  peasants 
during  the  midday  hours.  But  by  the 
fifteenth  century  the  increase  in  the  standard 
of  comfort  would  demand  an  inn,  rather 


Church  Inns   and   Church  Ales        71 

than  these  exposed  and  draughty  places  for 
shelter. 

Church  Ales  were  a  special  institution  of  the 
mediaeval  Church  to  the  intent  that  no  par- 
ishioner by  reason  of  poverty  should  lack  the 
means  of  feasting  to  his  heart's  content  on  the 
greater  holy-days  ;  all  were  to  assemble  and 
make  merry  together.  "  In  every  parish/1 
says  Aubrey,  in  the  introduction  to  his 
"  Natural  History  of  Wiltshire/*  there  was  a 
Church  House,  to  which  belonged  spits, 
crocks,  and  other  utensils  for  dressing  provi- 
sions. Here  the  housekeepers  met.  The  young 
people  were  there,  too,  and  had  dancing, 
bowling,  shooting  at  butts,  etc.,  the  ancients 
sitting  gravely  by  and  looking  on.  All  things 
were  civil  and  without  scandal/'  Whitsun- 
tide was  the  great  feast  of  early  summer  before 
haymaking  began,  and  so  these  feasts  were 
popularly  known  as  Whitsun-Ales,  but  Easter 
and  Christmas  were  not  forgotten.  From  an 
old  Breton  legend  we  learn  incidentally  that 
it  was  customary  for  the  three  masses  of  Christ- 
mas to  be  said  consecutively  by  anticipa- 
tion, after  which  all  adjourned  for  a  gorgeous 
feast  in  the  neighbouring  Church  House. 
Sometimes  two  parishes  united  for  the  cele- 
bration of  the  Church  Ale.  In  Dods worth's 


72 


Old   Country  Inns 


manuscripts  there  is  an  old  indenture 
preserved,  an  agreement  between  the  parish- 
ioners of  Elveston  and  Okebrook,  in  Derby- 


Church  House,  Penshurst 


shire,  to  brew  four  ales,  and  every  ale  of  one 
quarter  of  malt  between  Easter  and  the  feast 
of  St.  John  the  Baptist  ;  every  inhabitant 


Church  Inns   and  Church  Ales        73 

of  the  two  parishes  to  attend  the  several 
ales.  Charitable  folks  bequeathed  funds  for 
the  maintenance  of  these  parish  banquets  on 
particular  festivals. 

Just  above  the  western  door  of  Chalk 
Church,  near  Gravesend,  squats  carved  in 
stone  a  grotesque  goblin  figure,  cross-legged 
and  grinning  with  a  most  jovial  expression  as 
he  grasps  a  flagon  of  ale.  Charles  Dickens  in 
his  latter  years  never  omitted  to  stop  and 
have  greeting  with  this  comical  old  monster. 
Now,  this  sculpture  commemorates  a  give  ale, 
bequeathed  by  William  May,  in  1512,  that 
there  should  be  "  every  year  for  his  soull, 
an  obit,  and  to  make  in  bread  six  bushells  of 
wheat,  and  in  drink  ten  bushells  of  malt,  and 
in  cheese  twenty  pence,  to  give  to  poor  people 
for  the  health  of  his  soull." 

After  the  Reformation  the  Church  Ales 
were  continued,  chiefly  in  order  that  the 
Churchwardens  might  by  the  sale  of  the 
liquor  secure  funds  for  the  repair  of  the  fabric. 
"There  were  no  rates  for  the  poor  in  my 
grandfather's  days/'  says  Aubrey.  "  But  for 
Kingston  St.  Michael  (no  small  parish)  the 
Church  Ale  of  Whitsuntide  did  the  business  *" 
Abuses  rapidly  crept  in.  Stubbs,  the  author 
of  the  "  Anatomie  of  Abuses/'  complains  in 


74 


Old   Country  Inns 


1583,  that  the  ales  were  kept  up  for  six  weeks 
on  end,  or  even  longer.  In  the  West  of  Eng- 
land instances  are  related  of  the  South  aisle 
of  the  church  being  filled  with  beer  casks  and 
men  busy  supplying  all  comers.  The  sale 


The  Punch  Bowl,  High  Easter 
of  liquor  went  on  during  morning  service 
greatly  to  the  disturbance  of  the  officiating 
minister.  Bishops'  injunctions,  ecclesiastical 
canons,  and  orders  of  the  justices  fulminated 
vainly  against  the  degenerated  Church  Ales. 
Not  till  the  time  of  the  Commonwealth  were 
they  finally  abolished. 


Church  Inns   and   Church  Ales        75 

Bishop  Hobhouse  traces  the  growth  of  the 
Church  House  into  a  regular  tavern  at  Tintin- 
hull  in  Somersetshire.  First ,  there  was  a 
small  bakehouse  for  the  making  of  the  pain 
benit.  In  time  this  had  developed  into  a 
bakery  supplying  the  whole  neighbourhood 
with  bread.  From  brewing  ale  for  Church 
festivals,  the  brewhouse  undertook  the 
regular  sale  of  malt  liquor ;  and  it  was  a  very 
profitable  business  for  the  churchwardens; 
so  that  municipal  trading  was  not  quite 
unknown  in  the  olden  time. 

The  only  examples  of  an  undoubted  Church 
House  that  we  have  come  across  are  the 
"  Church  Loft  "  at  West  Wycombe,  in  Bucks, 
and  the  exquisite  half-timbered  building 
over  the  Lych  Gate  at  Penshurst.  The 
Castle  Inn  at  Hurst,  in  Berkshire,  is  tradi- 
tionally known  as  the  Church  House.  The 
bowling-green  behind  this  inn  is  one  of  the 
best  in  England  and  of  great  antiquity. 
There  are  many  inns  and  other  old  houses 
near  churchyards  which  probably  began  their 
career  as  Church  Houses ;  the  half-timbered 
"  Priest  house  "  at  Langdon,  in  Essex,  and  the 
long  plastered  and  tiled  tudor  structure  over 
the  porch  at  Felstead,  opposite  the  Swan  Inn, 
and  formerly  used  as  the  Grammar  School, 


76 


Old   Country  Inns 


may  both  be  of  this  category.  The  Punch 
Bowl  at  High  Easter  is  actually  in  the  church- 
yard ;  its  interior  framing — a  marvellous 
piece  of  joinery — and  the  richly-moulded 
beams  show  it  to  have  been  built  at  the  same 


-J 


The  Punch  Bowl,  High  Easter 

time  as  part  of  the  church,  perhaps  by  the 
same  craftsmen.  By  the  way,  Mr.  James 
Stokes,  the  landlord  for  many  years  of  the 
Punch  Bowly  a  worthy,  good-hearted  man, 
was  in  size  the  nearest  rival  of  Daniel  Lambert 
we  ever  met.  His  huge  proportions  were  not 
by  any  means  due  to  indolent  habits.  He 


Church  Inns   and   Church  Ales        77 

was  a  thatcher  by  trade,  and  noted  in  the 
district  for  his  activity  and  skill. 

In  the  absence  of  documents  it  is  not  easy 
to  discriminate  between  the  Church  Inn  and 
the  Church  House.  Old  inns  near  the  church 
bearing  ecclesiastical  names  may  be  of  either 
origin,  or  may  have  served  for  both.  The 
Bell  is  very  common  all  over  England.  It  is 
always  found  near  the  church,  and  the  sign  is 
of  the  highest  antiquity.  Chaucer  tells  us 
that  the  Tabard  in  Southwark  was  "  juste  by 
the  Belle."  The  Bell  at  Finedon,in  North- 
amptonshire, puts  in  a  claim  to  be  one  of  the 
very  oldest  in  the  country,  and  the  old  Bell 
Tavern  which  formerly  stood  in  King  Street, 
Westminster,  is  mentioned  in  the  expenses 
of  Sir  John  Howard,  Jockey  of  Norfolk,  in 
1466.  At  the  Bell,  in  Warwick  Lane,  died 
the  good  Archbishop  Leighton  in  1684.  "  He 
often  used  to  say  that  if  he  were  to  choose  a 
place  to  die  in,  it  should  be  an  inn  ;  it  looks 
like  a  pilgrim's  going  home,  to  whom  this 
world  was  all  as  an  inn,  and  who  was  weary 
of  the  noise  and  confusion  in  it .  .  .  .  And 
he  obtained  what  he  desired." 1 

Not  unusual  in  this  situation  is  a  Lamb  Inn. 
The  Lamb  at  Eastbourne  has  a  small  but 

1  "  Burnet's  Own  Times,"  II,  426. 


78  Old    Country  Inns 

well-proportioned  crypt,  vaulted  and  groined. 
There  is  a  Lamb  and  Flag  near  the  old  parish 
church  at  Brighton,  Sudbury,  and  at  Swindon  ; 
and  a  Lamb  and  Anchor  in  Bristol.  These 
owe  their  origin  to  a  carving  of  the  Agnus  Dei, 
but  may  sometimes  point  to  a  house  of  the 
Knights  Templars,  for  the  Agnus  Dei  appeared 
on  their  coat  of  arms.  The  Bleeding  Heart 
is  an  emblem  of  the  five  sorrowful  mysteries 
of  the  Rosary,  and  the  Heart,  generally  found 
as  the  Golden  Heart,  is  in  honour  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin.  The  Anchor  is  suggestive  of  a  church 
inn,  but  we  have  not  been  able  to  trace  a 
house  bearing  this  sign  to  any  very  remote 
period.  At  Hartfield,  there  is  an  Anchor  Inn 
close  to  the  church,  evidently  ancient,  and 
having  a  delightful  old-fashioned  garden.  It 
was  formerly  occupied  by  a  church  institution 
where  the  poor  were  fed  and  housed  in  return 
for  such  labour  as  their  age  and  skill  would 
permit,  founded  by  the  Rev.  Richard  Randes, 
a  rector  of  the  parish  some  two  hundred  and 
fifty  years  ago.  The  house  contains  evidence 
of  having  existed  long  before  this  date. 

At  least  one  church  has, by  the  vicissitudes 
of  time,  become  an  inn  ;  the  George  Hotel  at 
Huntingdon,  itself  very  old  and  picturesque, 
enshrines  in  its  cellars  and  lower  walls  all  that 


Church  Inns   and   Church  Ales        79 

is  left  of  St.  George's  Church.  The  stones  of 
St.  Benedict's  Church  in  the  same  town  were 
used  two  centuries  ago  in  building  the  Barley 
Mow  Inn  at  Hartford,  and  some  figures 
and  panelling  may  be  seen  in  the  tap-room 
of  the  Queen's  Head,  close  by  where  this 
church  stood.  At  the  Old  Red  House,  about 
four  miles  north  of  Newmarket  on  the  road 
to  Brandon,  the  bar-counter  is  formed  out 
of  the  rood-screen  turned  out  of  the  neigh- 
bouring church  at  a  "  Restoration  "  about 
five-and -twenty  years  ago. 

In  a  corner  of  Romford  churchyard  a 
fifteenth-century  chantry-house,  founded  by 
Avery  Comburgh,  Squire  of  the  Body  to 
Henry  VI,  and  Under-Treasurer  to  Henry  VII, 
became  after  the  Reformation  the  Cock  and 
Bell  Inn.  Through  the  kindness  of  Messrs. 
Ind,  Coope  &  Co.,  the  present  Bishop  of 
Colchester  was  enabled  to  regain  possession 
for  religious  uses,  and  after  three  hundred 
and  sixty  years  of  alienation  this  building, 
still  possessing  its  original  oak  ceiling  beams 
and  panelling  has  been  converted  into  a 
Church  House  for  the  parish,  and  a  hall  for 
meetings,  corresponding  in  style,  has  now 
been  added  from  the  design  of  Sir  Charles 
Nicholson,  Bart. 


80  Old   Country  Inns 

Among  the  pleasantest  memories  of  a 
pilgrimage  to  Walsingham,  is  that  of  a  Sunday 
spent  at  a  little  Suffolk  village,  where  after 
service  Pastor  and  flock  alike  adjourned  to 
our  inn  for  a  half  an  hour's  gossip.  The  old 
custom  would  be  difficult  to  restore  nowadays, 
but  much  of  the  social  influence  of  the  Church 
over  the  labouring  classes  was  lost  when 
rectors  left  off  occupying,  at  least  once  a  week, 
the  chair  in  the  village  inn  parlour.  For  it 
is  not  without  good  reason  that  church  and 
inn  stand  so  frequently  side  by  side.  Each 
ministers  alike  to  the  natural  and  common 
needs  of  man,  and  each  in  its  own  way  has 
its  lesson  to  teach  us  in  the  gospel  of  the 
larger  life.  They  have  stood  together 
through  the  ages  as  a  protest  against  the 
wayward  theories  of  man-made  puritanism; 
for  they  belong  to  the  Commandment  which 
is  "exceeding  broad/' 


CHAPTER  VII 

COACHING  INNS 

A  HUNDRED  years  ago,  everybody  who  had 
occasion  for  inland  travelling  was  perforce 
obliged  to  use  the  road  ;  that  is,  unless  he 
preferred  a  canal  boat  or  barge, and  navigable 
waters  lay  in  the  desired  direction.  Rich 
people  travelled  in  their  private  carriage  with 
four  horses  which  were  changed  every  few 
miles  at  the  posting-houses.  Those  without 
means  had  to  content  themselves  with  carriers' 
carts  or  the  stage  broad-wheeled  waggons ;  a 
few  resorted  to  dog-carts,  then  a  tiny  four- 
wheeled  contrivance  actually  drawn  by  dogs. 
But  the  great  majority  of  passengers  were 
conveyed  in  the  coaches  or  mails.  In  1825 
it  was  calculated  that  no  less  than  10,000 
persons  were  daily  on  the  road  in  mail-coaches, 
so  closely  timed  that  if  a  driver  were  to  be 
ten  minutes  late  in  arriving  at  an  important 
centre  many  corresponding  services  would  be 
seriously  upset.  The  average  speed,  allowing 
for  changing  horses,  was  about  ten  miles  an 
hour  on  the  fast  day  coaches. 

81 


82  Old   Country  Inns 

All  this  vast  organisation  had  grown  up 
since  the  time  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  when  the 
coach  was  introduced  from  France  by  Fitz- 
Alan,  Earl  of  Arundel.  Only  in  her  old  age 
would  this  queen  leave  her  horse  for  the 
effeminate  conveyance,  and  the  Judges  con- 
tinued to  ride  on  horseback  to  Westminster 
Hall,  almost  until  the  Restoration.  In  the 
year  1672,  when  there  were  only  six  stage- 
coaches in  daily  running,  a  Mr.  John  Cresset, 
of  the  Charterhouse,  published  a  pamphlet 
urging  their  suppression  on  the  ground  that 
'  These  stage-coaches  make  gentlemen  come 
to  London  on  every  small  occasion,  which 
otherwise  they  would  not  do,  but  upon 
urgent  necessity ;  nay  the  convenience  of 
the  passage  makes  their  wives  often  come  up, 
who  rather  than  come  such  long  journeys  on 
horseback  would  stay  at  home.  Then,  when 
they  come  to  town,  they  must  presently  be 
in  the  mode,  get  fine  clothes,  go  to  plays  and 
treats,  and  by  these  means  get  such  a  habit 
of  idleness  and  love  of  pleasure,  as  to  make 
them  uneasy  ever  after/' 

The  coaches  started  on  their  journey  each 
morning  and  evening  from  great  inn  yards 
surrounded  by  tiers  of  galleries  one  above 
the  other.  Sometimes,  as  at  the  Bull  and 


Coaching  Inns  83 


Mouth  in  St.  Martins  le  Grand,  or  the  Oxford 
Arms  in  Warwick  Lane,  there  were  four 
stories  of  these  galleries.  It  is  not  easy  to 
trace  the  various  steps  by  which  the  plan  of 
the  coaching  inn  was  evolved  from  the 
"  corrall "  of  migrating  tribes,  who  when  rest- 
ing for  the  night  arranged  their  waggons 
in  a  hollow  square,  with  their  cattle  in  the 
centre.  But  the  idea  underlying  the  coaching 
inn  was  a  species  of  fortress  entered  only  by 
the  great  archway  with  massive  doors  strongly 
barred  at  closing  time.  The  bedchambers  of 
the  guests  all  opened  into  the  galleries  over- 
looking the  yard.  When  an  alarm  was  raised 
each  owner  of  waggons  or  cattle  in  the  yard 
could  at  once  hurry  out  to  the  defence  of  his 
property.  Later  on,  the  traveller  would  be 
bound  to  hear  the  note  of  the  guard's  horn, 
warning  him  that  the  coach  in  which  he  had 
booked  a  place  was  preparing  to  start. 

"  Heads,  heads, — take  care  of  your  heads  !  " 
is  the  cry  as  the  Pickwick  Club  pass  on  the 
top  of  the  Rochester  coach  through  the  low 
inn  archway.  "  Terrible  place — dangerous 
work — other  day — five  children — mother — 
tall  lady  eating  sandwiches — forgot  the  arch 
—  crash  —  knock  —  children  look  round  — 
mother's  head  off — sandwich  in  her  hand — 


Yard  of  White  Hart,  St.  Albans 


Coaching   Inns  85 


no  mouth  to  put  it  in — head  of  a  family  off — 
shocking,  shocking  ! l3  And  it  was  no  inven- 
tion of  the  ingenious  Mr.  Jingle — for  the 
accident  actually  happened  at  the  White  Hart 
at  St.  Albans. 

Just  as  the  coaching  system  had  reached 
its  highest  perfection,  the  railway  came  and 
the  coach  vanished — more  suddenly  than  the 
horse  vehicle  has  disappeared  from  the  Strand 
with  the  advent  of  the  taxi-cab  and  motor 
omnibus.  The  landlord  of  the  coaching  inn 
and  the  posting-house  found  his  occupation 
gone  almost  as  abruptly  as  the  guard  and 
driver.  Gone  are  all  the  coaching  inns  of 
London,  although  their  names  survive  as 
receiving  offices  of  the  railway  carriers.  In 
country  towns  on  the  main  roads,  like  Sitting- 
bourne  or  Godalming,  huge  forlorn  wrecks 
present  their  face  to  the  roads  converted 
into  shops  or  tenements.  Some  of  them  con- 
tinue to  maintain  a  precarious  existence  in 
country  villages  like  Buckden  in  Huntingdon- 
shire, scarcely  visited  by  the  traveller  of 
to-day,  whereas  seventy  years  ago  their  vast 
size  was  often  insufficient  to  accommodate 
the  daily  arrivals  of  guests.  They  linger  on 
in  the  hope  that  motorists  may  bring  them 
a  new  popularity.  Others,  tired  of  empty 


86 


Old   Country  Inns 


rooms  and  dwindling  local  trade  have  retired 
into  private  life.  At  Caxton,  on  the  old 
North  Road,  the  George,  a  very  large  inn  of 
a  lonely  country  village,  is  now  a  comfortable 
private  residence,  and  the  old  gateway  arch 
would  hardly  be  recognized  in  the  French 
window  opening  on  the  front  garden. 


Coach  Gallery  at  the  Bull,  Long  Melford 

Gone  are  the  old  galleried  yards.  We  do 
not  know  of  one  complete  instance,  except  the 
little  disused  Coach  and  Horses  in  York  Street, 
Westminster,  which  is  neither  large  nor  beau- 
tiful. Fragments  of  galleries  exist  at  the  old 


Coaching   Inns  87 


George  Inn  in  the  Borough,  where  they  are  in 
several  stories  ;  at  the  George  at  Huntingdon  ; 
the  Golden  Lion  at  St.  Ives,  and  the  New  Inn 
at  Gloucester ;  but  the  finest  remaining  gallery 
is  at  the  Bull  at  Dartford.  The  Bull  at  Long 
Melford  owns  a  glazed  gallery,  running  along 
the  side  of  the  yard  next  the  inn,  said  to  have 
served  to  facilitate  the  loading  of  luggage  on 
the  coaches. 

But  in  provincial  towns  the  coaching  inn 
is  not  quite  left  desolate  ;  it  is  the  place  of 
departure  and  arrival  for  the  carrier's  van. 
One  need  only  search  any  local  directory  to 
discover  the  enormous  number  of  these  con- 
veyances and  the  various  inns  from  which  they 
start.  The  rustic  still  prefers  this  method  of 
travel  to  any  other,  and  if  the  tourist  is  not 
in  a  hurry  the  box  seat  of  a  carrier's  cart  is 
the  ideal  place  from  which  to  study  rural 
affairs.  The  carrier  knows  everybody  in  the 
district  and  he  is  often  a  dry  kind  of  philoso- 
pher, if  not  an  archaeologist  or  naturalist. 
Win  his  heart  and  he  will  divulge  unexpected 
secrets,  besides  securing  for  you  the  most 
comfortable  night's  lodging.  His  recom- 
mendation will  prove  a  passport  admitting 
into  every  grade  of  village  society. 

When  the  world  proves  unkind,  when  the 

7— (2244) 


88  Old   Country  Inns 

loneliness  and  disappointments  of  life  press 
hard  upon  you — if  Fortune  has  dealt  you  a 
humiliating  rebuff — then,  if  you  have  a  few 
shillings  left,  one  night  spent  in  an  old  way- 
side coaching  inn  will  brace  your  system  up 
and  give  you  heart  to  face  your  troubles  once 
more  with  a  new  courage.  The  world  you 
have  left  may  have  despised  you.  Within  the 
walls  of  this  old  hostelry,  landlord,  waiter, 
chambermaid,  exist  only  to  obey  your  lightest 
whim.  You  are  the  luminary  round  which 
this  little  world  revolves — the  "  gentleman 
in  the  parlour."  As  Washington  Irving  so 
well  puts  it :  "To  a  homeless  man  there  is  a 
momentary  feeling  of  independence  as  he 
stretches  himself  before  an  inn  fire  ;  the  arm- 
chair is  his  throne,  the  poker  is  his  sceptre, 
and  the  little  parlour  his  undisputed  empire/' 
If  you  condescend  to  join  the  company  in  the 
tap-room,  still  further  honour  awaits  you. 
Your  pronouncements  on  things  temporal 
or  things  eternal  have  acquired  an  acknow- 
ledged value  ;  your  opinion  is  invited  and 
universally  deferred  to ;  and  the  oldest 
inhabitant  will  for  your  special  benefit  invent 
a  new  series  of  reminiscences.  In  short,  you 
will  feel  the  truth  of  all  that  Dr.  Johnson  has 
laid  down  on  the  subject  :  "At  a  tavern 


Coaching  Inns 


there  is  a  general  freedom  from  anxiety.  You 
are  sure  you  are  welcome  ;  and  the  more  noise 
you  make,  the  more  trouble  you  give,  the  more 
good  things  you  call  for,  the  welcomer  you  are. 


The  White  Hart,  Witham 

No  servants  will  attend  you  with  the  alacrity 
which  waiters  do,  who  are  incited  by  the 
prospects  of  an  immediate  reward  in  pro- 
portion as  they  please.  No,  sir ;  there  is 


90  Old   Country  Inns 

nothing  which  has  been  contrived  by  man  by 
which  so  much  happiness  is  produced  as  by  a 
good  tavern  or  inn/' 

A  few  minutes'  gossip  with  the  landlord 
after  closing  time,  and  you  sink  to  rest  in  the 
depth  of  a  feather  bed,  which  removes  the 
last  vestiges  of  the  care  that  has  beset  you. 
Early  in  the  morning  you  rise  refreshed  and 
vigorous,  ready  after  a  walk  round  the  old- 
fashioned  garden  to  devour  unlimited  supplies 
of  ham  and  eggs  washed  down  by  coffee. 
It  is  only  in  real  old  coaching  inns  that  they 
possess  the  secret  of  brewing  old  English 
coffee — a  beverage  that  owes  nothing  to  the 
poisonous  intoxicating  berry  of  Arabia, 
discovered  by  the  brothers  Shirley.  We 
believe  it  is  manufactured  by  roasting  and 
grinding  some  species  of  scarlet  runner.  As 
a  breakfast  drink  it  is  unequalled.  This 
coffee  is  the  last  of  a  series  of  exhilarating 
experiences  before  you  go  your  way  rejoicing 
and  awake  to  all  the  graces  of  life.  The  bill 
will  not  be  exorbitant — that  is,  if  you  have 
been  reasonable  in  your  demands — and  the 
landlord  contemplates  with  pleasure  your 
return  on  a  future  occasion. 

We  love  the  coaching  inn,  not  only  as  the 
home  of  practical  good  cheer,  but  for  the 


Coaching  Inns  91 

romantic  memories  that  cling  to  it.  Scarcely 
one  of  them  but  has  its  story  of  the  eloping 
couple,  whose  chaise  slipped  out  at  the  back 
gate  just  as  the  heroine's  father  alighted  to 
make  inquiries  at  the  front  door  ;  the  details 
vary,  but  the  lovers  always  escape  in  the  nick 
of  time  with  the  connivance  of  Boniface. 
In  a  corner  of  the  gallery  of  one  old  inn  near 
Huntingdon,  a  narrow  door  is  shown,  fitting 
so  exactly  that  when  closed  no  person  except 
those  in  the  secret  could  trace  it.  Here  some 
Dick  Turpin  or  Claude  Duval  might  lie  in  wait 
and  peep  over  the  balcony  to  choose  his  prey 
among  the  passengers  stopping  for  the  night ; 
or  find  safe  hiding  from  the  Bow  Street 
runners.  Romance  easily  gathered  around 
the  journey  by  coach.  Whereas  a  railway 
acquaintance  ends  when  the  passengers  each 
go  his  or  her  own  way  from  the  arrival 
platform,  the  companions  on  the  coach-top 
met  again  in  the  coffee-room,  and  might  re- 
new their  intimacy  at  breakfast  next  morning. 
Between  London  and  York  there  was  ample 
time  and  opportunity  for  any  suitable  young 
couple  to  arrive  at  a  good  understanding 
with  one  another. 

None  of  the  coaching  inns  had  a  more 
remarkable  history  than  the  Castle  Inn  at 


92  Old  Country   Inns 

Marlborough.  Built  by  Francis,  Lord  Sey- 
mour, in  the  reign  of  Charles  II  from  the 
reputed  designs  of  Webb,  Inigo  Jones*  pupil 
and  son-in-law,  this  sumptuous  manor-house 
was  the  favourite  residence  of  the  Seymour 
family.  During  its  occupation  by  Frances, 
Countess  of  Hertford,  and  afterwards  Duchess 
of  Somerset,  in  the  early  years  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  many  of  the  leading  wits 
and  scholars  of  the  age  were  invited  here. 
Dr.  Watts,  the  hymn-writer,  James  Thomson, 
author  of  "  The  Seasons/'  and  Elizabeth 
Rowe  are  all  said  to  have  composed  their  lays 
in  the  grottoes  and  extravagantly -arranged 
gardens.  When  the  house  passed  by  marriage 
into  the  hands  of  the  Northumberland  family 
it  was  neglected  as  a  superfluous  residence, 
and  at  last  was  let  on  lease  as  an  inn  to  a 
Mr.  Cotterell.  It  was  a  broad-fronted  stately 
mansion,  the  most  splendid  and  best  ap- 
pointed hotel  in  England  during  that  age. 
Before  the  grand  portico  no  less  than  forty 
coaches  changed  horses  every  day.  The 
service  was  magnificent.  A  dinner  of  twenty- 
two  covers  could,  if  necessary,  be  served  up 
on  silver. 

The  great  Lord  Chatham  once  stayed  several 
weeks  at  the  Castle  Inn.     He  was  detained 


Coaching  Inns  93 

there  on  his  way  back  to  London  from 
Bath,  by  a  relapse  of  gout.  His  own  suite 
demanded  twenty  rooms,  and  the  exigencies  of 
State  during  that  time  strained  the  resources 
of  the  hotel  to  the  utmost.  He  required  the 
whole  staff,  waiters,  ostlers  and  boot-boys  to 
wear  his  livery.  Mr.  Stanley  Weyman  has 
seized  on  just  this  critical  moment,  and  has 
woven  round  the  Castle  Inn  the  sweetest  and 
most  enthralling  of  his  many  novels. 

Other  romances  of  real  life  are  associated 
with  it.  Driving  through  Marlborough  and 
halting  at  the  Castle  Inn,  a  certain  Duke  of 
Chandos  heard  screams  in  the  inn-yard. 
Hastening  to  the  spot  he  found  a  beautiful 
girl  being  brutally  beaten  by  an  ostler.  When 
the  Duke  interfered,  the  ostler  declared  that 
the  young  woman  was  his  wife,  and  therefore 
that  he  had  an  indefeasible  right  to  beat  her. 
However,  he  was  willing  to  compromise  the 
matter  by  selling  his  wife  for  £20.  The  Duke 
paid  the  money,  took  the  young  woman  away, 
and,  so  we  are  told,  afterwards  made  her 
Duchess  of  Chandos. 

Water  has  continued  to  flow  under  the 
bridge  that  spans  the  Kennett  for  many 
generations  since  Sir  George  Soane  sat  on  the 
parapet  and  wooed  Julia,  the  college  porter's 


94 


Old   Country   Inns 


daughter.  The  old  Bath  Road  knows  no  more 
the  coaches,  curricles,  wigs  and  hoops,  hols- 
tered  saddles  or  the  beaux  and  fine  ladies, 
and  gentleman's  gentlemen  whose  environ- 
ment they  were.  We  drift  half-uncon- 
sciously  into  the  language  of  the  novelist  who 


Old  Coaching  Inns,  St  Albans 


has  recalled  these  old  days  so  vividly.  The 
Castle  Inn  is  now  part  of  Marlborough  College, 
founded  in  1843.  The  Rose  Inn  at  Woking- 
ham  has  been  refronted  since  "  With  pluvial 
patter  for  refrain/'  Gay,  Pope,  Swift  and 


Coaching  Inns 


95 


Arbuthnot  spent  a  rainy  afternoon  there  vying 
their  verses  in  praise  of  Molly  Moy,  the  fair 
daughter  of  their  host,  who  in  spite  of  her 
beauty  lived  to  be  an  old  maid  of  seventy. 
Yet  the  wayfarer  will  discover  that  inn- 
keeper^ daughters  are  as  pretty  as  they  were 
in  the  days  gone  by.  Romance  is  not  the 
exclusive  property  of  any  one  generation. 
Where  youth  and  beauty  are  to  be  found 
there  lurks  the  romance ;  and  it  belongs 
as  much  to  the  inns  of  our  own  time  as  when 
highwaymen,  patches,  puffs,  wigs,  and  knee 
breeches  were  the  prevailing  fashion. 


Botolph's  Bridge  Inn,  Romney  Marsh 


CHAPTER  VIII 

WAYSIDE   INNS   AND   ALEHOUSES 

WE  have  shown  in  previous  chapters  how  the 
old  English  inn  grew  up  almost  always  under 
some  local  authority — either  the  lord  of  the 
manor,  the  monastery,  or  the  parish — and  its 
conduct  was  regulated  by  legal  enactments 
from  the  reign  of  Henry  II  onwards.  The 
alehouse,  on  the  contrary,  might  conduct  its 
business  as  its  owner  pleased,  subject  only 
to  the  natural  laws  of  supply  and  demand. 
Every  householder  was  free  to  brew  either  for 
his  own  consumption  or  for  sale,  the  one 
condition  being  that  his  liquor  was  whole- 
some and  good.  Among  the  crimes  that  in- 
curred the  punishment  of  the  ducking-stool 
in  the  city  of  Chester  during  Saxon  times 
was  that  of  brewing  bad  beer. 

In  every  manor  there  was  held  annually 
the  assize  of  bread  and  ale,  the  two  staple 
articles  of  diet  which  it  was  essential  should 
be  pure  and  of  good  quality.  "  Bread,  the 
staff  of  life,  and  beer  life  itself,"  not  unknown 
as  a  motto  on  the  signboards,  is  a  saying  that 

96 


Wayside  Inns  and  Alehouses          97 

has  come  down  to  us  from  a  prehistoric  period. 
And  modern  science,  as  it  seems,  is  inclined 
to  endorse  the  maxim.  Good  old-fashioned 
wheaten  and  rye  bread,  made  from  the  whole 
flour  from  which  only  the  coarser  brans  had 
been  sifted,  built  up  the  stamina  of  our  fore- 
fathers. Their  chief  drink  was  ale  brewed 
from  barley  or  oaten  malt.  The  small  pro- 
portion of  alcohol  served  as  a  vehicle  for  the 
organic  phosphates  necessary  for  the  susten- 
ance of  strong  nerves,  while  the  ferment  of  the 
malt  helped  to  digest  the  starch  granules  in 
the  bread.  Bread  and  ale  are  still  the  main 
diet  of  our  labouring  classes — but  alas ! 
stale,  finely-sifted  flour  contains  a  very  poor 
allowance  of  gluten,  and  chemically  pro- 
duced saccharine  is  destitute  of  phosphates. 
O,  that  our  modern  legislators  would  revive 
the  assize  of  bread  and  ale  ! 

In  Arnold's  Chronicle,  published  by  Pynson 
about  1521,  the  following  receipt  for  making 
beer  is  given  :  "  Ten  quarters  of  malt,  two 
quarters  of  wheat,  two  quarters  of  oats  and 
eleven  poundes  of  hoppys,  to  make  eleven 
barrels  of  single  beer."  Hops  only  came  into 
use  about  the  reign  of  Henry  VII ;  pre- 
viously ivy  berries,  heath  or  spice  had  been 
used  as  a  flavouring  for  ale.  Leonard  Maskall, 


98  Old  Country  Inns 

of  Plumpton,  a  writer  on  gardening  in  the 
reign  of  Henry  VIII,  has  the  credit  of  accli- 
matising the  hop -plant.  He  is  also  said  to 
have  first  introduced  carp  in  the  moat  at 
Plumpton  Place.  Hence  the  rhyme  of  which 
many  versions  are  given: 

"  Hops,  heresy,  carp  and  beer, 
Came  into  England  all  in  one  year." 

However,  hops  are  mentioned  as  an  adul- 
terant in  ale  in  a  statute  of  Henry  VI ;  and 
about  the  same  time  mention  of  beer  occurs 
in  the  accounts  of  Syon  Nunnery,  which  were 
kept  in  English. 

Every  inn,  large  or  small,  once  possessed 
its  own  brewhouse,  and  although  wholesale 
breweries  were  established  about  the  time  of 
the  Flemish  immigration,  at  the  end  of  the 
fourteenth  century,  home-brewed  ale  was 
commonly  on  draught  fifty  or  sixty  years  ago. 
The  White  Horse  at  Pleshy,  that  village  that 
boasts  of  knowing  neither  a  teetotaller  nor  a 
drunkard,  relied  entirely  on  its  home-brewed 
liquors  up  to  within  the  last  ten  years,  and 
the  apparatus  wherein  they  were  prepared 
remains  for  the  student  of  old  methods  to 
examine. 

Home-brewed  ale  is  still  more  commonly 
to  be  met  with  in  some  districts  than  many 


Wayside  Inns   and  Alehouses 


99 


suppose.  Even  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
greatest  brewery  town  in  the  world,  Burton- 
on-Trent,  there  are  small  inns  which  rely 
upon  their  own  brewing  for  the  best  of  their 
ale.  There  is  a  very  old  brewhouse  at  Derby , 


White  Horse,  Fleshy 

at  the  Nottingham  Castle  Inn,  into  which 
any  passer-by  may  step  from  the  street  and 
see,  twice  a  week,  a  huge  cauldron  containing 
about  a  hundred  and  twenty  gallons,  bubbling 
and  foaming  in  the  corner.  This  brewhouse 
dates  from  the  sixteenth  century,  and  is  one 


100  Old  Country  Inns 

of  the  oldest  buildings  in  the  town ;  the 
Dolphin,  whose  licence  dates  from  1530, 
being  another  and  perhaps  older  inn  in  the 
same  neighbourhood. 

A  legion  of  brewers  are  named  in  Domesday 
Book,  mostly  women,  and  manorial  assizes 
show  a  preponderance  of  the  fairer  sex. 
The  price  of  bread  and  ale  was  fixed  by 
statute  in  Henry  Ill's  reign,  and  it  was  the 
business  of  the  Ale-tester  to  see  that  the 
measures  were  of  standard  capacity  and 
stamped  with  some  recognized  official  mark. 
Alehouses  abounded  everywhere,  known  by  a 
long  pole  surmounted  by  a  tuft  of  foliage. 
An  Act  of  1375  regulates  the  length  of  the 
ale-stake  at  not  more  than  seven  feet  over  the 
public  way.  The  poles  had  a  tendency  to 
become  over  long  to  the  deterioration  of  the 
timber  structures  from  which  they  depended, 
as  well  as  danger  to  travellers  passing  on 
horseback.  At  Guildford,  and  some  other 
cloth  centres,  the  alehouses  were  required  to 
exhibit  a  woolpack  for  a  sign. 

These  alehouses  were  of  all  sorts  and  sizes. 
There  was  the  humble  hedgeside  cottage, 
looking  like  a  mere  sentry-box,  illustrated  in 
the  fourteenth  century  MS.1,  where  a  hermit 

1  MS.  10.    E.  IV. 


Wayside  Inns  and  Alehouses         101 


is  being  entertained  by  an  alewife  with  a  very 
large  beer  jug ;  or  the  little  alehouse  on  the 
Watling  Street,  somewhere  near  Rainham, 
where  Chaucer's  Pardoner  dismounted  to 

"  Drynke  and  by  ten  on  a  cake  " 
before  commencing  his  tale  ;  or  the  establish- 
ment by  Leatherhead  Bridge,  where  Elinour 
Rummyng  drove  such  a  thriving  trade,  im- 
mortalised by   the   poet   Skelton.     Some   of 
these  larger  alehouses  were  a  cause  of  anxiety 
to  well-disposed  people,  and  no  doubt  the 
Church  Houses  were  partly  instituted  with  the 
idea  of  inducing  the  faithful  to  spend  their 
time  in  a  less  disreputable  manner.     All  kinds 
of  bad  characters  resorted  to   the  alehouse. 
Piers  Plowman  gives  us  a  lurid  picture  of  what 
went  on  there.     How  the  glutton  going  to  be 
shriven  met  the  alewife  and  was  induced  to 
spend  the  afternoon  and  evening  with 
"  Tymme  the  tynkere  and  tweyne  of  his  prentis 
Hikke  the  hakeneyman  and  Hughe  the  nedeler, 
Clarice  of  cokkeslane,  and  the  clerke  of  the  Cherche 
Dawe  the  dykere  and  a  doziene  other ; 
Sir  Piers  of  Pridie  and  Peronelle  of  Flanders, 
A  ribidour,  a  ratonere,  a  rakyer  of  Chepe, 
A  ropere,  a  redynkyng,  and  Rose  the  disheres, 
Gofrey  of  Garlekehithe,  and  Gryfin  the  Walshe, 
And  upholderes  an  hepe." 

They    drink    deeply,    joke    coarsely    and 
quarrels  ensue. 


Old   Country  Inns 


Finally  the  glutton  is  hopelessly  intoxicated. 
"  He  myghte  neither  steppe  ne  stande,  er  his  staff  e 

hadde  ; 

And  thanne  gan  he  go,  liche  a  glewmannes  biche, 
Somme  tyme  aside,  and  somme  tyme  arrere, 
As  who-so  leyth  lynes  for  to  lache  foules." 

His  wife  and  maid  carry  him  home  between 
them  and  he  lies  helpless  through  Saturday 
and  Sunday,  waking  in  bitter  repentance  at 
having  missed  his  duties.  1 

From  Skelton  we  learn  how  women  came 
to  pledge  their  wedding  rings  and  husbands' 

clothes 

"  Because  the  ale  is  good." 

Hence  the  necessity  for  an  Act  in  Henry  VI  Fs 
reign  which  empowered  justices  to  close  ale- 
houses notorious  for  bad  conduct,  and  later, 
the  first  Licensing  Act  of  1552,  requiring  every 
alehouse-keeper  to  obtain  the  licence  of  two 
justices,  and  regulating  the  manner  in  which 
the  business  is  to  be  carried  on.  By  an  Act 
of  1627,  a  fine  of  twenty-one  shillings,  or  in 
default  a  whipping,  was  inflicted  on  the  keepers 
of  unlicensed  alehouses,  and  on  a  second 
conviction  imprisonment  for  one  month. 
But  none  of  these  measures  were  enforced 
throughout  the  country,  and  they  were  easily 

*"  Piers  the  Plowman."     Text  B.,  Passus  V.  ;    Text 
C.,  Passus  VII. 


Wayside  Inns  and  Alehouses         103 

evaded.  Anyone  was  still  free  to  sell  ale  in 
booths  at  fair  time,  and  many  trades  had  by 
custom  the  privilege  to  sell  ale  as  a  part  of 
their  business  :  for  example,  barbers  and  black- 
smiths, whose  customers  required  entertain- 
ment while  waiting  their  turn.  Two  centuries 
after  the  first  Licensing  Act,  the  nation  was 
still  unconvinced  on  the  subject  of  free  trade 
in  liquor.  In  a  report  on  an  inquiry  made 
by  Justices  of  the  Peace  for  the  County  of 
Middlesex  in  1736,  it  was  shown  that  within 
the  limits  of  Westminster,  Holborn,  The  Tower 
and  Finsbury  (exclusive  of  London  and  South- 
war  k),  there  were  no  less  than  2,105  unlicensed 
houses.  Spirits  were  retailed  by  abbve 
eighty  other  trades,  particularly  chandlers, 
weavers,  tobacconists,  shoemakers,  carpenters, 
barbers,  tailors,  dyers,  etc. 

Barbers'  shops*  were  once  resorted  to  by 
idlers,  in  order  to  pass  away  their  time,  and  a 
system  of  forfeits  prevailed,  nominally  to 
enforce  order,  but  in  practice  to  promote  the 
sale  of  drink.  They  are  referred  to  in 
"  Measure  for  Measure. " 

"  Laws  for  all  faults, 

But  laws  so  countenanced  that  the  strong  statutes 
Stand  like  the  forfeits  in  a  barber's  shop 
As  much  in  mock  as  mark." 

8— (2244) 


104  Old   Country  Inns 

Dr.  Kenrick  professes  to  have  copied  the 
following  list  of  forfeits  in  a  shop  near 
Northallerton  : 

"  RULES  FOR  SEEMLY  BEHAVIOUR 
First  come,  first  served — then  come  not  late ; 
And  when  arrived  keep  your  state  ; 
For  he  who  from  these  rules  shall  swerve 
Must  pay  the  forfeits — so  observe." 

1. 

Who  enters  here  with  boots  and  spurs, 
Must  keep  his  nook ;  for  if  he  stirs, 
And  gives  with  armed  heel  a  kick, 
A  pint  he  pays  for  every  prick. 

2. 

Who  rudely  takes  another's  turn, 
A  forfeit  mug  may  manners  learn. 

3. 

Who  reverentless  shall  swear  or  curse, 
Must  lug  seven  farthings  from  his  purse. 

4. 

Who  checks  the  barber  in  his  tale, 
Must  pay  for  each  a  pot  of  ale. 

5. 

Who  will  or  cannot  miss  his  hat 
While  trimming,  pays  a  pint  for  that. 

6. 

And  he  who  can  or  will  not  pay, 
Shall  hence  be  sent  half  trimm'd  away, 
For  will  he,  nill  he,  if  in  fault, 
He  forfeit  must  in  meal  or  malt. 
But  mark  who  is  already  in  drink, 
The  cannikin  must  never  clink." 


Wayside  Inns    and  Alehouses        105 

As  the  restrictions  on  travelling  graduA 
ally  disappeared  many  of  the  alehouses 
developed  into  inns.  As  early  as  1349,  a 
statute  of  Edward  III,  requiring  those  who 
entertained  travellers  to  be  content  with 
moderate  prices,  recognizes  the  class  of 
Herbergers l  or  keepers  of  unlicensed  hostelries. 
And  these  inns  as  a  class  are  deserving  of 
close  study  from  the  difficult  problem  of 
determining  their  exact  age.  Some  of  them 
may  have  existed  as  alehouses  during  the 
Saxon  period ;  some  may  even  stand  on 
the  sites  of  Roman  tabernae. 

The  oldest  of  all  inn  signs  of  this  class  is 
the  Chequers,  found  throughout  England,  but 
especially  in  the  neighbourhood  of  old  Roman 
roads.  This  sign  is  found  on  many  houses  at 
Pompeii,  and  was  throughout  Europe  the 
common  indication  of  a  money-changer's 
office.  Hence  our  Court  of  the  Exchequer, 
which  concerned  itself  with  the  national  funds 
and  their  collection.  The  chess-board  was 
the  most  primitive  form  of  ready  reckoner ; 
and  as  the  innkeeper  was  the  person  best 
qualified  to  act  as  money-changer  he  readily 
undertook  the  business.  Small  tradesmen 

1  Literally  "  Harbourers."  Compare  the  French 
Auberge. 


106  Old  Country   Inns 

still  send  their  assistants  to  the  public-house 
when  they  require  to  change  a  sovereign. 
Many  heraldic  shields  are  painted  with  checks, 
and  Brand,  in  his  "  Popular  Antiquities/' 
suggested  that  the  Chequers  represent  the 


The  Chequers,  Redbourne 

coat  of  arms  of  the  Earls  of  Warrenne,  on 
the  supposition  that  a  member  of  this  family 
in  the  reign  of  Edward  IV  possessed  the 
exclusive  right  of  granting  licences.  It  is 
absolutely  certain  that  no  such  licence  was 
ever  authorised.  Nothing  of  the  kind  was 
ever  attempted  before  Sir  Giles  Mompesson  in 
the  reign  of  James  I ;  but,  of  course,  some 
"  chequers "  may  possibly  have  a  heraldic 
origin. 

Chaucer's  pilgrims  put  up  at  the  Chequers 
on  the  Hope  (i.e.,  on  the  Hoop)  at  Canterbury, 


Wayside  Inns   and  Alehouses         107 

and  part  of  this  inn  still  remains  near  the 
Cathedral  gate.  There  was  also  a  Chequers 
Inn  at  St.  Albans,  but  it  has  now  ceased  to 
exist.  Either  may  have  stood  on  the  sites  of 
Roman  inns  ;  but  with  these  as  with  the 
thatched  Chequers  on  the  Watling  Street, 
near  Redbourne,  or  the  Chequers  at  Loose  or 
Doddington,  speculation  is  vain.  Like  the 
needy  knife-grinder,  whose  breeches  were  so 
woefully  torn  during  his  drinking  bout  at  an 
inn  bearing  the  same  name  :  "  Story  ?  God  bless 
you,  I  have  none  to  tell,  sir  !  "  is  the  universal 
answer  to  all  our  inquiries  for  any  historical 
particulars  beyond  a  century  or  two  back. 

Wayside  inns  needed  no  licence  and  were 
usually  carried  on  by  a  hosteller  who  com- 
bined the  occupation  with  that  of  farmer  or 
tradesman  of  some  kind.  Where  any  old 
leases  exist  they  are  described  merely  as  tene- 
ments or  farms.  Thus  the  Dorset  Arms  at 
Withyham,  a  very  picturesque  old  shingled 
and  barge-boarded  inn,  appears  as  "  Somers* 
Farm/'  Only  by  accident  do  we  find  the  name 
of  one  of  the  tenants,  William  Pigott,  on  a 
list  of  Sussex  tavern-keepers  in  the  year  1636. 

When  the  sign  of  the  Three  Horseshoes 
occurs  at  the  end  of  a  rough  difficult  stretch 
of  road  during  which  a  horse  would  often  lose 


108  Old   Country   Inns 

a  shoe,  it  is  probable  that  the  inn  grew  up 
side  by  side  with  a  blacksmith's  business, 
even  when  the  smithy  no  longer  exists.  In 
a  very  lonely  and  exposed  situation  on  the 
Ermine  Street,  where  the  road  to  St.  Ives 


The  Three  Horseshoes  near  Papworth  Everard 

crosses  near  Papworth  Everard,  there  is  a 
thatched  inn  bearing  this  sign  and  also  known 
as  Kisby's  Hut.  At  Lickfold,  about  six  miles 
from  Haslemere,  almost  under  the  shadow  of 
Black  Down,  the  highest  hill  in  Sussex,  there 
is  a  cosy  half-timbered  Three  Horseshoes, 
which  has  come  down  to  our  time  practically 
unaltered  since  the  day  of  its  erection  in 
1642,  and  it  is  well  worth  examination.  The 
roads  around  it  are  liable  to  be  flooded,  and 
it  is  a  likely  place  for  waggoners  to  pull  up  for 
repairs.  But  when  disentangling  the  riddles 


Wayside  Inns   and  Alehouses         109 

of  local  history,  we  must  not  be  led  astray 
with  obvious  explanations.  Many  old  coats 
of  arms  contain  the  three  horseshoes.  Indeed 
there  is  one  inn  on  a  manor  once  belonging 
to  the  Shelleys,  where  possibly  the  forgotten 
shield  of  the  older  Kentish  branch  of  the 


The  Horseshoes,  Lick  fold 

family  —  the  three  escallops  —  has  been 
repainted  as  three  horseshoes. 

The  Plough  and  Harrow  are  both  primitive 
emblems,  and  agricultural  signs  such  as  these 
point  to  a  very  high  antiquity.  The  Plough 
at  Kingsbury  is  supposed  to  be  more  than 
eight  hundred  years  old. 

At  the  Upper  Dicker  in  Sussex  there  is  an 
inn  called  the  Plough,  which  is  worth  visiting 
by  motorists  on  their  way  to  the  Star  at 


110  Old   Country    Inns 

Alfriston,  especially  as  it  will  enable  them  to 
get  a  glimpse  of  Michelham  Priory  on  an 
island  in  the  Cuckmere  close  by.  The  tap- 
room of  this  inn  has  a  generously-planned 
fireplace  with  an  ancient  fireback  and  dogs. 
Up  till  quite  recently  it  was  the  custom  to 
keep  a  fire  constantly  burning,  and  in  the 
hottest  weather  the  warmth  of  this  fire  was 
far  from  unwelcome  owing  to  the  thickness  of 
the  outer  walls.  This  tradition  of  the  ever- 
burning fire  is  a  curious  one,  found  in  remote 
districts,  and  pointing  to  a  time  when  the 
public-house  was  necessarily  resorted  to  for 
purposes  of  this  kind.  At  the  Chequers 
Inn,  Slapestones,  near  Osmotherly,  in  York- 
shire, the  hearth-fire  has  been  burning  un- 
interruptedly for  at  least  a  hundred  and 
thirty  years. 

Some  inns  now  known  as  the  Ship  were 
possibly  at  one  time  the  "  Sheep/'  as  will  be 
readily  understood  by  those  acquainted  with 
rustic  dialect.  Shepherd  and  Crook,  Load  of 
Hay,  Woodman,  are  all  to  be  found  in  rural 
districts  throughout  England.  The  Wheat- 
sheaf,  whether  it  surmounts  a  fine  old  coaching 
house  in  a  market  town,  or  a  little  wayside 
inn  far  from  the  madding  crowd,  reminds  us 
that  we  once  could  boast  of  the  finest  wheat 


Wayside  Inns   and  Alehouses        111 

culture  in  the  world  ;  while  the  Harvest  Home 
pleasantly  recalls  the  merry-making  which 
concluded  the  ingathering  of  the  crops. 

In  some  country  villages  there  are  a  very 
large  number  of  small  inns  close  together, 
perhaps  three  in  a  row.  At  Steeple  Ashton, 
in  Oxfordshire,  there  are  thirteen,  and  at 
East  Ilsley,  in  Berkshire,  nearly  as  many  to  a 
population  of  about  five  hundred.  The  street 
seems  almost  to  consist  of  public-houses. 
But  it  would  be  quite  wrong  to  suppose  that 
the  inhabitants  of  these  districts  are  unduly 
given  to  convivial  habits.  The  reports  of  the 
petty  sessions  show  that  drunkenness  is 
exceedingly  rare.  In  Steeple  Ashton  division 
no  charge  of  drunkenness  has  been  heard  for 
the  past  six  years.  Such  villages  are  decayed 
market  towns,  which  become  important  at  the 
time  of  their  periodical  sheep  fairs,  when  an 
army  of  graziers  and  shepherds  from  the 
distant  downs  must  find  board  and  lodging. 
For  a  week  these  inns  are  crowded  with 
dealers  in  velveteen  jackets,  and  grizzled 
veterans  clad  in  those  blue  smock  coats  and 
slouched  hats,  which  were  once  the  universal 
dress  of  village  labourers,  with  a  shaggy  bob- 
tail dog  under  every  chair.  When  fair -time 
is  over  they  are  quite  deserted. 


CHAPTER  IX 

HISTORIC    SIGNS    AND    HISTORIC    INNS 

"  THE  Greeks  honoured  their  great  men  and 
successful  commanders  by  erecting  statues 
to  them,"  remarks  Jacob  Larwood  ;  "  modern 
nations  make  the  portraits  of  their  cele- 
brities serve  as  signs  for  public-houses."1 
Certainly  it  would  be  possible  to  make  the 
signboards  on  the  inns  serve  as  texts  for  a 
complete  history  of  England.  There  was  once 
even  a  Ccesar's  Head  in  Great  Palace  Yard ; 
and  King  Alfred  and  Canute  are  still  com- 
memorated at  Wantage  and  at  Southampton  ; 
while  the  King  Edgar  Inn  at  Chester,  repre- 
sents on  its  sign  that  monarch  being  rowed 
in  a  wherry  down  the  river  Dee  by  eight 
tributary  kings.  But  for  authentic  and 
ancient  historical  signs  we  must  not  refer 
to  any  earlier  period  than  the  reign  of 
Edward  III,  when  inns  began  to  be  built  in 
large  numbers. 

Many  Red  Lion  inns  date  from  this  reign. 
The  red  lion  was  the  badge  of  John  of  Gaunt, 

1  "  History  of  Signboards,"  II,  45. 
112 


Historic  Signs   and  Historic  Inns     113 

married     to     Constance,    daughter    of    Don 
Pedro  the  Cruel,  King  of  Leon  and  Castille. 


Red  Lion,  Wingham 

On  the  other  hand,  John  of  Gaunt  was  the 
leader  of  an  unpopular  and  reactionary  party, 
not  likely  to  commend  itself  to  the  innkeeper. 
The  Red  Lion  at  Wingham,  containing  an  old 


114  Old   Country  Inns 

court -room  and  some  curious  and  beautifully 
carved  oaken  beams,  ceilings  and  kings-posts, 
is  declared  by  experts  to  date  from  1320. 
In  this  case  it  is  more  probable  that  the  red 
lion  of  Scotland,  conquered  by  Edward  I, 
is  commemorated.  A  landlord  of  the  Red 
Lion  at  Sittingbourne,  in  1820,  advertised 
his  establishment  as  "  Remarkable  for  an 
entertainment  made  by  Mr.  John  Norwood 
for  King  Henry  V,  as  he  returned  from  the 
Battle  of  Agincourt,  in  France,  in  the  year 
1415,  the  whole  amounting  to  no  more  than 
nine  shillings  and  ninepence,  wine  being  at 
that  time  only  a  penny  a  pint,  and  all  other 
things  proportionately  cheap/'  The  Red 
Lion  at  Speldhurst,  near  Tunbridge  Wells, 
was  discovered  by  the  investigations  of  the 
late  Mr.  Morris  in  the  Inland  Revenue  to 
have  possessed  a  licence  in  1415. 

Not  all  Red  Lion  inns,  however,  date  from 
the  fourteenth  century,  for  this  was  also  said 
to  be  the  favourite  badge  of  Cardinal  Wolsey. 
At  Hampton-on-Thames  the  Red  Lion  came 
into  existence  when  that  great  statesman  was 
building  Hampton  Court  Palace,  and  served 
to  lodge  the  better  class  of  craftsmen  engaged 
in  the  work.  After  being  for  centuries  a 
favourite  meeting-place  for  the  Royal  Chase, 


Historic  Signs  and  Historic  Inns    115 

it  became  a  resort  for  literary  and  dramatic 
folk,  Dryden,  Pope,  Colley  Gibber,  Addison, 
Quinn,  and  Kitty  Clive  being  among  the 
names  associated  with  the  house.  In  the 
early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century  it  was 
famous  for  its  tulip  feasts  which  drew  the 
tulip  fanciers  of  the  world  to  Hampton.  In 
1908  the  charming  old  Tudor  structure  was 
condemned  to  make  way  for  a  street -widening 
scheme,  and  its  last  appearance  was  as  the 
background  to  a  cinematograph  picture,  in 
which  the  house  suddenly  burst  into 
flames,  frenzied  occupants  appeared  at  the 
windows,  the  heroes  of  the  local  fire  brigade 
flew  to  the  rescue  in  the  nick  of  time,  and 
the  fire  was  put  out  in  the  most  approved 
manner. 

At  Walsingham  there  is  a  large  inn  con- 
taining remains  of  fourteenth -century  work, 
called  the  Black  Lion.  Perhaps  it  takes  its 
name  from  the  arms  of  Queen  Philippa,  of 
Hainault,  who  came  hither  with  her  husband, 
Edward  III,  in  1361,  to  offer  thanks  for  the 
happy  conclusion  of  the  French  Wars  after  the 
treaty  of  Bretigny.  But  both  Black  Lion  and 
Golden  Lion  may  occasionally  refer  to  the 
lions  of  Flanders  and  be  marks  of  the  great 
immigration  of  Flemish  weavers,  ironfounders 


116 


Old  Country   Inns 


and    brewers    during    the    fourteenth    and 
fifteenth  centuries. 

The  Swan  was  a  favourite  emblem  with 
many  of  our  kings,  its  first  mention  being  in 


The  Swan,  Sutton  Valence 

the  "  Vow  of  the  Swan,"  when  Edward  I 
swore  to  take  vengeance  on  Scotland  for  the 
murder  of  Comyn.  On  the  signboards  it 
must  generally  be  ascribed  to  Henry  IV. 
With  Henry  V  and  VI,  the  antelope  is  the 
heraldic  emblem ;  there  is  an  old  half-tim- 
bered Antelope  opposite  the  Market  House  at 


Historic  Signs  and  Historic  Inns    117 

Godalming,  but  it  has  recently  been  re-named 
the  White  Hart.  At  Bristol  and  at  Guildford 
are  White  Lion  inns,  probably  in  honour  of 
Edward  IV,  whose  arms  have  for  supporters 
the  White  Lion  and  the  Black  Bull  of  the  house 
of  Clarence. 

Richard  III  reigned  for  too  short  a  span  to 
provide  us  with  many  White  Boars,  and  the 
few  that  existed  hastened  after  his  death  to 
change  their  names  to  that  of  the  Blue  Boar  ; 
a  coat  of  blue  paint  was  a  cheap  way  of  con- 
verting the  White  Boar  of  the  fallen  monarch 
into  the  Blue  Boar  of  the  Earl  of  Oxford, 
whose  influence  had  contributed  very  largely 
to  place  Henry  Tudor  on  the  throne.  It  was 
at  the  Blue  Boar  at  Leicester,  that  Richard 
III  slept  just  before  the  battle  of  Bosworth. 
A  large  richly  carved  and  gilded  four -post 
bedstead  was  long  preserved  there  and  shown 
to  sightseers  as  the  bed  which  he  occupied. 
In  the  time  of  Elizabeth,  a  Mr.  Clarke,  who 
kept  the  house,  accidentally  discovered  a  huge 
store  of  gold  coins  of  the  reign  of  Richard  III, 
underneath  the  planks  of  the  bedstead.  He 
concealed  his  good  fortune  and  thus  from  a 
poor  condition  he  became  rich,  but  this  ill- 
gotten  wealth  brought  a  curse  in  its  train.  A 
maid-servant  plotted  with  seven  ruffians  to 


118  Old   Country    Inns 

rob  the  inn.  Mrs.  Clarke,  interrupting  them 
at  their  work,  was  strangled  by  the  maid- 
servant, who  was  sentenced  to  be  drawn  and 
burnt,  and  her  seven  accomplices  were 
hanged  in  the  Market  Place  at  Leicester 
in  1613. 

Another  sign  which  disappeared  utterly 
after  the  Battle  of  Bosworth,  was  the  White 
Rose  ;  but  the  Red  Rose  of  Lancaster  is  not 
uncommon  at  the  present  time  in  the  County 
Palatine.  The  Rose  and  Crown,  or  Rose  and 
Portcullis,  are  the  royal  signs  of  Henry  VIFs 
reign.  But  as  the  Rose  was  in  mediaeval 
times  regarded  as  an  emblem  of  Our  Lady, 
"  Rosa  Mystica,"  besides  being  a  national 
emblem,  the  numerous  Rose  inns  must  not  be 
attributed  to  this  period  without  more  positive 
historical  evidence.  Such  doubts  are  not 
likely  to  arise  with  regard  to  the  King's  Head, 
a  sign  nearly  always  adorned  with  a  lifelike 
portrait  of  bluff  King  Harry.  Many  of  these 
houses  are  old  monastic  or  collegiate  property, 
whose  lessees  were  anxious  by  the  change  of 
sign,  to  acknowledge  their  acceptance  of  the 
situation.  It  is  not  necessary  to  fare  a  long 
distance  from  town  to  find  an  old  King's 
Head.  In  the  village  of  Roehampton,  a  short 
mile  from  Putney,  the  much  married  monarch 


Historic    Signs   and  Historic   Inns    119 

may  still  be  recognized  on  the  battered,  faded 
signboard  hanging  over  an  obelisk-shaped 
post  in  front  of  the  long  low  inn,  faced  with 
shingles.  Within  the  house  are  many 


King's  Head,  Roehampton 

quaint  low-ceilinged  rooms  and  some  curious 
relics. 

"  Good  Queen  Bess/'  either  by  portrait  or 
bust,  is  associated  with  the  Queen's  Head, 
although  in  this  case  painter  or  modeller  had 
to  be  careful,  as  the  Virgin  Queen  was  exceed- 
ingly particular.  If  her  effigy  proved  to  be 


120  Old    Country  Inns 

uncomely,  or  not  lifelike  in  her  opinion,  it 
was  liable  to  destruction  and  the  perpetrator 
to  suffer  from  her  serious  displeasure.  A 
proclamation  of  1563,  complains  that  "a  grete 
number  of  her  loving  subjects  are  much  greved 
and  to  take  grete  offence  with  the  errors  and 
deformities  allredy  committed  by  sondry 
persons  in  this  behalf/'  and  orders  that  means 
be  taken  to  "  prohibit  the  shewing  and  publi- 
cation of  such  as  are  apparently  deformed, 
until  they  may  be  reformed  which  are  re- 
formable,"  Many  of  the  Queen's  Head  inns 
may  owe  their  origin  to  Sir  Walter  Raleigh, 
who,  in  the  thirtieth  year  of  that  reign 
obtained  a  patent  "  to  make  licence  for  keep- 
ing of  taverns  and  retailing  of  wines  through 
England."  The  Queen's  Head  at  Islington, 
a  noble  structure  with  an  elaborately-carved 
front  and  richly  ornamented  ceilings,  has 
always  been  connected  traditionally  with  Sir 
Walter.  Either  in  this  house,  or  at  the 
Old  Pied  Bull  close  by,  occurred  that  amusing 
episode  in  the  early  history  of  tobacco  smoking. 
His  servant,  happening  to  be  carrying  in  a  pail 
of  water,  observed  to  his  horror  clouds  of  smoke 
issuing  from  Raleigh's  mouth,  and  imagining 
him  to  be  on  fire,  with  admirable  presence  of 
mind  poured  the  liquid  in  a  deluge  over  the 


Historic   Signs    and   Historic   Inns    121 

knight. x     Both  inns  have  unfortunately  been 
pulled  down. 

With  James  I,  the  arms  of  England  and 
Scotland  were  united,  and  the  Unicorn  ap- 
pears for  the  first  time.  There  are  many 
Unicorn  inns  in  the  South  of  England ;  but 
the  fabulous  beast  was  also  a  sign  used  by 
apothecaries,  possibly  because  the  horn  (really 
that  of  the  Narwhal)  was  supposed  to  detect 
the  presence  of  poison.  Albertus  Magnus 
mentions  (without  endorsing)  a  belief  current 
in  his  time  that  knife-handles  made  of  this 
substance  would  sweat,  if  poison  was  brought 
into  the  room.  Fuller  was  more  credulous. 

Charles  I  took  refuge  at  the  Unicorn  Inn 
at  Weobly,  in  Herefordshire,  on  September 
5th,  1645,  and  this  inn  was  afterwards  called 
the  Crown.  It  is  now  a  private  house. 

Royal  Oaks  are  everywhere  in  memory  of 
the  Boscobel  Oak,  and  the  accession  of  Charles 
II.  Oliver  Cromwell,  who  had  usurped  the 
Rose  and  Crown  in  High  Street,  Knights- 
bridge,  was  dethroned  once  more  to  make 
room  for  the  reinstatement  of  the  old  sign. 
Coming  nearer  to  our  own  time  the  Brunswick 

1  Charles  Lamb,  who  delighted  in  the  old  Queen's 
Head,  suggests  that  the  liquid  was  not  water  but 
"  Black  Jack." 


122  Old   Country   Inns 

inns  hail  the  succession  of  the  house  of 
Brunswick  to  the  English  Crown.  George  III 
and  George  IV  appear  occasionally,  but  not 
so  frequently  as  William  IV,  our  Sailor  King. 
Queen  Victoria's  popularity  is  shown  by  the 
hundreds  of  Victoria,  Island  Queen,  Empress 
and  Jubilee  inns.  Since  the  coronation  of 
our  late  gracious  sovereign,  King  Edward 
VII,  the  duties  of  the  justices  have  involved 
the  closing  of  old  houses  rather  than  the 
licensing  of  new  ones.  So  that  it  is  unlikely 
that  future  generations  will  be  able  to  realise 
the  esteem  and  regard  of  his  subjects  by  any 
large  number  of  Edward  VII  inns.  However, 
there  will  be  a  considerable  array  of  Royal 
Alberts  and  Prince  of  Wales  signboards  to 
indicate  this  nation's  good  feeling  towards  him 
when  he  was  heir  apparent  to  the  throne  ; 
the  same  remark  will  apply  with  regard  to 
the  Princess  Alexandra  and  Rose  of  Denmark. 
We  have  by  no  means  exhausted  the  list 
of  royal  emblems.  Some  Falcon  inns  may 
have  taken  their  title  from  the  badge  of  the 
Dukes  of  York ;  but  this  was  not  invariably 
the  case,  when  in  districts  where  hawking  was 
a  popular  sport.  The  Falcon  Hotel,  near  Clap- 
ham  Junction,  owes  its  name  to  the  river 
Falcon,  once  a  considerable  stream,  but  now 


Historic  Signs   and   Historic    Inns    123 

only  permitted  to  flow  through  Battersea 
underground.  The  "Gun"  was  a  Tudor  sign, 
and  the  Gun  Inn  at  Dorking,  evidently  dates 
from  the  reign  of  Edward  VI.  Edward  III 
quartered  the  French  arms  with  the  English  ; 
the  practice  was  continued  by  his  successors 
and  may  have  originated  the  Fleur  de  Lis  or 
Flower  de  Luce  inns,  where  none  of  the  local 
families  bear  this  charge  on  their  shields. 
Mention  of  the  Fleur  de  Lis  at  Faversham 
is  the  one  piece  of  local  colouring  in  the 
"  Tragedy  of  Arden  of  Faversham,"  formerly 
attributed  to  Shakespeare.  The  Three  Frogs, 
near  Wokingham,  is,  perhaps,  a  version  of  the 
arms  of  France  ;  before  the  entente  cordiale  it 
used  to  be  a  theory  widely  current  among 
patriotic  Britons  that  the  fleur  de  Us  really 
was  intended  for  a  heraldic  representation  of 
a  frog. 

Occasionally  members  of  noble  families 
have  attained  to  such  distinction  that  their 
crests  have  been  utilized  for  inn  signs  far 
beyond  the  limits  of  their  estates.  The  Bear 
and  Ragged  Staff  was  the  crest  of  the  Earls  of 
Warwick ;  but  it  attained  to  notoriety  after 
its  adoption  by  the  rapacious  Dudleys. 
Robert  Dudley,  afterwards  Duke  of  North- 
umberland, discarded  the  Green  Lion,  his  own 


124  Old  Country    Inns 

emblem,  for  the  Bear  and  Ragged  Staff  of  his 
mother,  the  last  heiress  of  the  Warwick 
family.  His  fourth  son,  Robert  Dudley, 
Earl  of  Leicester,  a  favourite  of  Queen 
Elizabeth,  inherited  the  manor  at  Cumnor, 
an  old  possession  of  Abingdon  Abbey.  The 
Bear  and  Ragged  Staff  at  Cumnor,  and  its 
landlord  at  that  period,  Giles  Gosling,  are 
described  in  Sir  Walter  Scott's  novel,  "  Kenil- 
worth,"  wherein  is  also  related  the  tragic  fate 
of  Dudley's  unhappy  countess,  Amy  Robsart. 
Old  pictures  show  this  inn  down  to  the  middle 
of  the  last  century  as  retaining  its  thatched 
roof  and  rustic  primitive  appearance.  On 
the  signboard  was  the  name  of  the  licensee, 
with  the  addition,  "  late  Giles  Gosling." 

The  Eagle  and  Child  was  the  crest  of  the 
Earls  of  Derby,  the  Maiden  Head,  of  the 
Dukes  of  Buckingham,  and  the  White  Bear, 
that  of  the  Earls  of  Kent.  A  still  more 
frequent  sign  in  the  home  counties,  the  Grass- 
hopper, shows  the  popularity  of  the  great  Sir 
Thomas  Gresham,  to  whom  we  owe  the 
Royal  Exchange  and  many  other  great  City 
institutions.  Sir  Christopher  Hatton  and  Sir 
Francis  Walsingham,  both  Elizabethan  states- 
men of  eminence,  gave  us| respectively  the 
Hind  and  the  Tiger's  Head.  •  For  the  Saracen's 


Historic  Signs   and    Historic  Inns    125 

Head  there  will  be  various  claimants, 
according  to  locality,  so  many  crusaders 
having  adopted  this  charge  ;  but  a  few  inn- 
keepers of  Lollard  sympathies  possibly  adopted 
the  sign  out  of  compliment  to  Sir  John 
Oldcastle.  Bagford  informs  us  that  the 
Pelican  was  the  badge  of  Lord  Cromwell,  the 
despoiler  of  monasteries,  who  also  stole  this 
emblem  from  the  Church.  At  Speen,  near 
Newbury,  there  was  a  coaching  inn  on  the 

Bath    Road,  which    provoked  an    epigram : 

"  The  famous  house  at  Speenhamland, 

That  stands  upon  the  hill, 
May  well  be  called  the  Pelican, 
From  its  enormous  bill." 

Coming  to  the  ballad  heroes,  Guy  of  War- 
wick and  the  Dun  Cow  slain  by  him  are  found 
all  through  the  Midlands  ;  but  they  cannot 
compare  for  popularity  with  Robin  Hood, 
who  is  usually  accompanied  by  Little  John  on 
the  signboard.  This  is  not  a  result  of  the 
modern  taste  for  romantic  literature.  The 
Robin  Hood  is  mentioned  as  a  common  ale- 
house sign  by  Samuel  Rowlands  in  "  Martin 
Mark-all,  Beadle  of  Bridewell,"  published  in 
1610.  All  the  world  loved  Robin  Hood,  and 
cherished  his  memory  as  a  jolly  good-natured 
outlaw,  manly  and  fearless,  generous  to  the 
poor  and  careful  for  the  honour  of  womenkind. 


126  Old  Country   Inns 

Robin  Hood  alone  among  the  revolutionary 
spirits  of  the  Middle  Ages  has  a  place  on  the 
signboards,  although  Wat  Tyler  is  remem- 
bered in  connection  with  the  Crown  Inn  at 
Dartford,  and  Jack  Straw's  Castle  was  until 
lately  a  great  resort  for  holiday-makers  on 
Hampstead  Heath.  King  James  and  the 
Tinker  inn  at  Enfield,  which  claims  on  doubt- 
ful authority  to  be  over  a  thousand  years 
old,  is  associated  with  another  ballad  story 
of  which  there  are  many  versions,  such  as 
"  King  Henry  and  the  Miller  of  Mansfield,"  or 
"  King  John  and  the  Miller  of  Charlton."  In 
one  of  these  tales  our  old  friend,  the  Vicar  of 
Bray,  was  dining  at  the  Bear  at  Maidenhead 
with  some  friends.  The  party  had  taxed  all 
the  resources  of  the  hotel,  and  when  a 
stranger  tired  and  hungry  asked  for  refresh- 
ments, the  vicar  only  admitted  him  to  table 
very  grudgingly.  At  the  end  of  the  meal  the 
stranger  discovered  that  he  had  left  his 
purse  behind  him,  and  was  roundly  abused  by 
the  dignitary.  However,  his  curate  pleaded 
that  the  merry  quips  and  anecdotes  of  the 
guest  deserved  consideration  ;  he  had  proved 
himself  a  good  fellow  and  had  earned  his 
dinner.  At  this  moment  some  members  of 
the  royal  staff  enter,  and  the  guest  turns  out 


Historic  Signs  and  Historic   Inns    127 

to  be  nothing  less  than  his  Majesty  James  I. 
So  the  churlish  vicar  undergoes  much  dis- 
comfiture, and  the  curate  receives  the  reward 
of  high  preferment. 

Outbursts  of  patriotism  are  a  feature  on  the 
signboards.  Great  victories  of  the  British 
forces  by  land  and  sea,  and  the  great  military 
and  naval  heroes  have  all  been  commemorated 
in  their  turn,  beginning  with  the  Crispin  and 
Crispinian,  which  greeted  the  troops  of  Henry 
V,  as  they  returned  along  the  old  Watling 
Street,  after  Agincourt  (which  was  fought  on 

the  feast  day  of  these  twin  saints). 
"  Crispin  Crispian  shall  never  go  by 
From  this  day  to  the  ending  of  the  world, 
But  we  in  it  shall  be  remembered." 

"Henry  V,"  IV,  3. 

The  Bull  and  Mouth  is  said  to  be  a  corrup- 
tion of  Boulogne  Mouth,  captured  by  Henry 
VIII .  Bull  and  Gate  may  possibly  be  a  similar 
vulgarism  for  Boulogne  Gate.  We  might 
draw  up  a  complete  sequence  of  great  battles 
fought  and  fortresses  taken  during  the  last 
three  centuries,  but  those  most  frequently 
met  with  are  Gibraltar,  Waterloo,  Battle  of  the 
Nile,  and  Trafalgar.  Admirals  range  from 
Blake  to  Napier,  generals  from  Marlborough 
to  Wolseley.  Not  one  of  them  is  forgotten, 
though  Wellington,  Nelson  and  Keppel  can 


128  Old   Country    Inns 

probably  claim  the  largest  number  of  adhe- 
rents. The  Marquis  of  Granby,  almost 
forgotten  by  the  ordinary  reader  of  history, 
enjoyed  a  remarkable  popularity  in  his  own 
day,  if  we  are  to  judge  by  the  number  of 
portraits  of  this  high-spirited  and  courageous 
nobleman  which  hang  outside  public-houses. 
The  original  of  Mr.  Tony  Weller's  Marquis  of 
Granby  is,  we  believe,  the  one  at  Epsom, 
"  Quite  a  model  of  a  roadside  public -house  of 
the  better  class — just  large  enough  to  be  con- 
venient, and  small  enough  to  be  snug."  The 
sign  portrayed  "  the  head  and  shoulders  of  a 
gentleman  with  an  apoplectic  countenance, 
in  a  red  coat  with  blue  facings,  and  a  touch 
of  the  same  blue  over  his  three-cornered  hat, 
for  a  sky.  Over  that  again  were  a  pair  of 
flags ;  beneath  the  last  button  of  his  coat 
were  a  couple  of  cannon  ;  and  the  whole 
formed  an  expressive  and  undoubted  likeness 
of  the  Marquis  of  Granby  of  glorious  memory/1 
But  the  heart  of  the  nation  was  most 
deeply  touched  by  the  mingled  triumph  and 
pathos  at  Trafalgar.  Lord  Nelson,  Victory,  and 
Trafalgar,  greet  us  on  every  high  road  that 
leads  down  to  the  sea,  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  every  harbour  or  dock,  and  beside  the 
quays  on  every  navigable  river.  And  it  is 


Historic  Signs  and   Historic  Inns    129 


surprising  how  many  of  these  Nelson  inns 
buildings  three  or  four  centuries  old,  showing 
that  the  innkeeper  was  prepared  to  sacrifice 


The  Nelson,  Maidstone 

the  sign  under  which  he  had  hitherto  done 
business  and  trusted  to  make  a  new  reputa- 
tion under  the  aegis  of  the  popular  hero.  We 
have  discovered  several  Nelson  inns  of  this 


130  Old  Country   Inns 

type  in  Kent,  though  none  which  we  recall 
with  more  pleasure  than  the  quaint  many- 
gabled  wooden  structure  with  a  considerable 
list  to  starboard  on  the  high  path  by  the 
riverside  at  Maidstone.  Its  ways  are  homely 
but  hearty  ;  the  same  family  have  remained 
in  possession  for  a  period  rapidly  approaching 
the  century ;  and  almost  every  article  of 
furniture  is  old-fashioned  and  curious. 

The  public -house  has  been  described  as 
"  the  forum  of  the  English/'  We  may  sneer 
at  pot-house  politics,  but  it  is  only  in  the 
tavern,  the  haven  of  free  speech,  that  the 
burning  questions  of  the  day  can  be  discussed 
with  freedom  and  sincerity.  Washington 
Irving  called  the  inn  "  the  temple  of  true 
liberty/'  The  Punch  Bowl  was  a  Whig  sign, 
because  that  party  preferred  that  beverage 
(possibly  because  it  was  favoured  by  Fox), 
whereas  the  Tories  remained  faithful  to  old- 
fashioned  drinks  like  claret  and  sack.  Most 
of  the  political  idols  obtaining  a  recognition 
over  the  tavern  door  have  been  champions 
of  reform,  such  as  John  Wilkes,  Sir  Francis 
Burdett,  Palmer  ston,  and  Gladstone.  Tradi- 
tionally the  innkeeper  was  strongly  inclined 
to  this  side  until  the  bitter  attacks  of  a  section 
of  the  Liberal  party  on  his  business  and  very 


Historic   Signs  and   Historic  Inns    131 

existence   forced  him  in  self-protection  into 
alliance  with  modern  conservatism. 

Little  interesting  fragments  of  local  history 
are  sometimes  recorded  on  the  signboards. 
For  instance,  in  High  Street,  South  Norwood, 
there  are  three  public-houses  in  succession, 
the  Ship,  Jolly  Sailor,  and  Albion.  But  for 
these  we  might  forget  that  the  Croydon 
Canal  once  ran  through  this  district  with  a 
wharf  for  unloading  barges.  The  Sloop  Inn, 
at  Blackhouse,  in  Sussex,  dates  from  the  time 
when  the  river  Ouse  was  navigable  as  far  as 
Lindfield.  At  the  foot  of  Gipsy  Hill  is  the 
Gipsy  Queen,  named  after  Margaret  Finch, 
who  ruled  over  the  encampment  of  nomads 
in  the  forest  and  told  fortunes  to  all  comers. 
She  died  in  1760,  at  the  age  of  109,  and  was 
buried  in  Beckenham  Churchyard.  Owing 
to  her  constant  habit  of  sitting  with  her  chin 
resting  on  her  knees,  it  was  necessary  to 
employ  a  deep  square  box  in  place  of  an 
ordinary  coffin  for  her  interment.  Local 
worthies  are  not  very  frequent ;  but  John 
Winchcombe,  the  famous  clothier  of  Newbury, 
"  the  most  considerable  clothier  that  England 
ever  had,"  is  honoured  at  intervals  along  the 
Bath  Road  as  Jack  of  Newbury.  General  Wolfe, 
unlike  the  prophets,  finds  special  remembrance 


132  Old    Country  Inns 

in  his  own  birthplace,  Westerham;  but  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh  has  been  quite  overlooked 
at  Mitcham,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  he  was 
the  founder  of  its  leading  manufacture.  The 
inhabitants  of  Islington  are  more  grateful 
to  Sir  Hugh  Middleton  for  providing  them 
with  the  New  River,  and  more  than  one  house 
bearing  this  sign  exists  in  the  district. 

Foreign  princes  have  occasionally  attained 
the  distinction  of  tavern  popularity,  but  none 
so  frequently  as  Frederick  the  Great,  whose 
portrait  over  the  inspiring  words  '  The 
Glorious  Protestant  Hero/'  was  painted  on 
many  a  signboard  after  the  battle  of  Rosbach, 
and  the  King  of  Prussia  is  still  a  familiar  name. 
Garibaldi  is  an  instance  of  British  sympathy 
with  the  political  aspirations  of  a  foreign 
people.  Many  English  adventurers  joined 
in  the  struggles  of  the  young  Italian  nation, 
and  its  principal  hero  became  for  the  time 
a  popular  idol  of  the  very  first  order.  The 
length  to  which  a  section  of  the  community 
were  led  in  their  worship  of  the  red-shirted 
revolutionist  is  satirised  happily  in  Mortimer 
Collins'  "  Village  Comedy,"  wherein  the  local 
publican  constantly  cites  "  Old  Garry "  as 
the  proper  person  to  appeal  to  in  deciding 
delicate  questions  of  etiquette  and  morality. 


Historic  Signs   and    Historic  Inns    133 

The  Anchor  at  Liphook,  on  the  old  Ports- 
mouth road,  was  a  favourite  resort  of  Edward 
II,  when  hunting  in  Woolmer  Forest,  and 
Queen  Anne  when  visiting  the  Staghunt  also 
put  up  here.  To  this  inn  came  Samuel  Pepys 
in  1668,  "  exceeding  tremulous  about  high- 
waymen/' having  missed  his  way  to  Guild- 
ford  while  coming  over  Hindhead.  Another  inn 
which  could  many  a  tale  unfold,  if  walls  had 
tongues  as  well  as  ears,  is  the  Bull  at  Coventry. 
Half  a  dozen  conspiracies  have  been  hatched 
under  its  spreading  gables.  Henry  VII  made 
it  his  headquarters  before  the  Battle  of 
Bosworth.  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  was  im- 
prisoned here  for  a  short  time  ;  and  it  was 
the  first  meeting-place  for  the  devisers  of 
Gunpowder  Plot  to  blow  up  the  Houses 
of  Parliament. 

A  handsomely-panelled  and  pilastered 
room  in  the  Crown  and  Treaty  at  Uxbridge,  is 
shown  to  visitors  as  part  of  the  hall  in  which 
took  place  those  six  months  of  fruitless 
negotiations  between  King  and  Parliament  in 
1644,  which  ended  in  sealing  the  fate  of  the 
monarchy.  We  have  not  been  able  to  trace 
the  particular  establishment,  but  it  is  said  that 
an  alehouse  had  its  share  in  accomplishing 
the  restoration  of  Charles  II.  It  appears 


134  Old   Country  Inns 

that  a  messenger  from  the  Parliament  carry- 
ing letters  to  General  Monk  at  Edinburgh 
travelled  in  company  with  one  of  the  General's 
sergeants,  and  happened  to  mention  that 
he  also  held  despatches  for  the  Governor 
of  Edinburgh  Castle.  The  circumstance 
aroused  the  suspicions  of  his  companion. 
The  messenger  was  induced  to  stop  at  a  way- 
side inn  and  plied  with  brandy  until  he  became 
so  intoxicated  that  the  papers  could  be  taken 
from  his  person  without  detection.  Then  the 
sergeant  posted  by  forced  stages  to  his  general 
with  the  packet,  which  was  opened  and 
perused.  It  turned  out  to  contain  an  order 
for  Monk's  arrest.  Policy  and  resentment 
combined  to  direct  the  eyes  of  Monk  to  Charles 
Stuart,  and  in  due  course  the  Restoration 
became  an  accomplished  fact. 


CHAPTER  X 

SPORTS   AND   PASTIMES 

MANY  of  the  inn  signs  to  be  met  with  in  the 
old  provincial  trading  centres  recall  the 
sports  of  our  ancestors.  Too  often  these 
were  of  a  brutal  and  barbarous  character, 
suited  only  to  an  age  which  took  its  pleasures 
strenuously  and  knew  nothing  of  squeam- 
ishness  and  delicate  nerves.  Not  that  we 
of  the  twentieth  century  are  at  heart  one 
whit  more  humane.  The  cockney  who  would 
faint  at  the  bloodshed  and  slaughter  in  a 
bull -ring,  devours  greedily  in  his  Sunday 
newspaper  all  the  details  of  a  horrible  murder, 
or  a  railway  accident. 

Bull -running  and  bull -baiting  was  an  attrac- 
tion only  rivalled  by  bear-baiting.  The 
corporations  of  some  towns  had  a  by-law 
forbidding  butchers  to  exhibit  bull  beef  for 
sale,  unless  the  animal  had  previously  been 
baited  by  dogs  for  the  amusement  of  the 
populace.  Over  the  entrance  of  the  ancient 
Butchers'  Hall  at  Hereford,  still  hangs  the 
bull-ring  that  was  used  on  these  occasions. 

135 


136 


Old   Country  Inns 


It  required  the  introduction  of  several  fruit- 
less bills  into  the  House  of  Commons  between 
1802  and  1835,  before  an  Act  was  finally 
passed  to  abolish  the  practice.  Dog  and  Bear 
is  a  very  common  sign,  usually  Jacobean  in 


Horse  and  Groom,  near  Waltham  St.  Lawrence 

its   origin.     Bull   and  Ring,   Dog  and   Bull, 
Bull  and  Butcher,  are  all  somewhat  rare. 

Cock-fighting  was  a  very  favourite  spectacle 
from  the  earliest  times,  enjoyed  heartily  by 
gentle  and  serf,  young  and  old,  learned  and 
simple.  Nature  intended  the  game-cock  to 
strive  for  mastery  with  his  rival,  and  with 
the  weapons  provided  by  nature  the  combat 
has  a  fearful  interest  for  the  modern  British 
boy,  as  each  spring  new  conflicts  recur  in  the 
farmyard.  But  the  art  of  the  Elizabethan 


Sports  and    Pastimes  137 

sportsman  supplemented  nature  with  a  sharp 
spur  of  steel.  A  graphic  account  of  a  cock- 
fight is  given  by  Count  Kilmansegge  in  his 
"  Diary  of  a  Journey  to  England,  1761-2." 
The  scene  is  to  be  identified  by  the  little 
passage  from  Queen  Anne's  Gate  to  Birdcage 
Walk,  still  known  as  Cock- Pit  Alley. 

"  On  the  1st  February,  we  went  to  see  a 
cock-fight,  which  lasted  the  whole  of  the  week, 
where  heavy  bets,  made  by  the  Duke  of 
Ancaster  and  others,  for  more  than  100  guineas 
were  at  stake.  The  fight  takes  place  at  the 
Cock-Pit  close  to  St.  James's  Park,  in  the 
vicinity  of  Westminster.  In  the  middle  of  a 
circle  and  a  gallery  surrounded  by  benches, 
a  slightly-raised  theatre  is  erected  upon  which 
the  cocks  fight ;  they  are  a  small  kind  of  cock, 
to  the  legs  of  which  a  long  spur,  like  a  long 
needle  is  fixed,  with  which  they  know  how  to 
inflict  damage  on  their  adversaries  very 
cleverly  during  the  fight,  but  on  which  also 
they  are  frequently  caught  themselves,  so 
breaking  their  legs.  One  bird  of  each  of  the 
couples  which  we  saw  fighting  met  with  this 
misfortune,  so  that  he  was  down  in  a  moment, 
and  unable  to  raise  or  to  help  himself,  con- 
sequently his  adversary  at  once  had  an 
enormous  advantage.  Notwithstanding  this, 


138  Old    Country    Inns 

he  fought  with  his  beak  for  half  an  hour 
but  the  other  bird  had  the  best  of  it,  and  both 
were  carried  off  with  bleeding  heads.  No 
one  who  has  not  seen  such  a  sight  can  conceive 
the  uproar  by  which  it  is  accompanied,  as 
everybody  at  the  same  time  offers  and  accepts 
bets  .  .  .  We  were  satisfied  with  seeing  two 
fights,  although  we  might  have  remained  to 
see  still  more  for  the  half-crown  which  we  paid 
on  entering/' 

The  cock -pit  was  not  infrequently  to  be 
found  in  the  inn  yards.  At  Lincoln  the 
corporation  pit  was  in  the  yard  of  the 
Reindeer,  and  here  James  I,  a  great  patron 
of  this  sport,  was  entertained.  Pope,  whilst 
living  with  his  father  at  Chiswick,  took  great 
delight  in  cock-fighting ;  all  his  pocket-money 
was  laid  out  in  buying  birds  from  various 
choice  strains.  From  this  passion,  we  are 
told,  his  mother  had  the  good  sense  and 
skill  to  wean  him. 

Country  towns  generally  contain  an  inn 
called  the  Cock-fighters,  sometimes  with  remains 
of  the  old  pit  in  situ  ;  and  the  sign  of  the  Cock 
and  Bell  is  said  to  be  derived  from  the  shrove- 
tide  cock-fights,  when  boys  matched  their 
birds  against  each  other,  and  to  the  lucky 
owner  was  awarded  a  silver  bell,  which  he 


Sports  and   Pastimes  139 

wore  in  his  hat  for  three  Sundays  following. 
Originally,  the  Shrovetide  cocks  were 
mounted  on  stools  and  stones  thrown  at 
them.  Out  of  this  has  grown  the  modern 
"  Cocoanut  Shy/' 

The  sign  of  the  Bird  in  Hand,  often  merely 
facetious,  may  when  seen  on  old  inns,  as  at 
Widmore,  near  Bromley,  have  reference  to 
hawking ;  so  with  Hawk  and  Buckle  and 
Falcon  which,  as  a  rule,  we  are  content  to 
treat  as  heraldic  emblems. 

The  Kentish  Bowman  and  the  Bow  and 
Arrow  remain  to  tell  us  of  archery,  the 
favourite  village  pastime  in  rural  England 
until  quite  recently.  It  is  a  disputed  point 
whether  the  resilient  virtues  of  the  wood,  or 
their  use  in  Palm  Sunday  processions  had  most 
to  answer  for  the  hacked  and  mutilated 
condition  of  the  branches  of  old  churchyard 
yews.  Speed  the  Plough  recalls  the  rustic 
ploughing  competitions. 

Dog  and  Gun,  Dog  and  Duck,  Dog  and 
Badger,  Fox  and  Hounds,  and  Huntsman,  all 
betray  the  characteristic  trait  of  John  Bull, 
who  celebrates  a  fine  frosty  morning  by 
"  going  out  to  kill  something/'  The  Hunt 
meet  is  usually  in  front  of  some  leading  inn  ; 
and  hither  when  the  run  is  over  choice  blades 


140  Old  Country   Inns 

repair  to  recount  the  doings  of  the  day. 
These  inns  abound  in  trophies  of  the  chase, 
mounted  antlers,  stuffed  foxes,  otters,  or  rare 
birds  in  glass  cases  ;  though  few  can  vie  with 
the  collection  of  specimens  and  prints  at  the 
Swan,  Tarporley ;  where  even  the  plate  and 
crockery  bear  witness  to  the  pursuits  of 
its  patrons. 

The  Blue  Cap  at  Sandiway,  in  Cheshire, 
built  in  1715,  was  so  re-named  in  1762  in 
memory  of  a  very  remarkable  hound.  So 
fast  was  his  pace  that  a  weight  had  to  be 
slung  round  his  neck  to  prevent  him  out- 
racing  the  rest  of  the  pack.  On  one  side 
of  the  signboard  his  portrait  appears.  On 
the  reverse  the  following  account  of  the 
race  which  first  brought  him  into  notice  : 

"On  Saturday,  September  28th,  1762, 
Blue  Cap  and  Wanton,  ye  property  of  Mr. 
Smith-Barry,  Master  of  ye  Cheshire,  in  a 
match  over  ye  Beacon  course  at  Newmarket, 
beat  a  couple  of  Mr.  Meynell's  (ye  Quorn), 
one  of  which  was  Richmond.  Sixty  horses 
started  with  ye  hounds.  Mr.  Smith-Barry's 
huntsman,  Cooper,  was  ye  first  up,  but  ye  mare 
that  carried  him  was  quite  blind  at  ye  end. 
Only  twelve  got  to  ye  end.  Will  Craine, 
who  trained  ye  Cheshire  hounds,  came  in 


Sports   and  Pastimes  141 

twelfth  on  Rib.  Betting  was  6  to  4  on 
Meynell's." 

According  to  Daniel  the  race  was  run  at 
fully  thirty  miles  an  hour. 

From  an  inn  named  after  an  hound,  we  pass 
to  another  in  the  same  county,  much  more 
curious  and  antique  in  its  thatched  roof 
gables  and  old  furniture,  which  keeps  green 
the  memory  of  a  splendid  racehorse.  The 
Smoker  at  Plumbley  has  nothing  to  do 
with  tobacco.  The  portrait  of  the  old  horse, 
together  with  the  arms  of  Sir  George  Leicester, 
father  of  the  first  Baron  de  Tabley,  owner  of 
the  horse,  have  been  painted  on  the  signboard 
by  the  daughter  of  Lady  Leighton  Warren,  a 
member  of  this  family. 

Inns  are  no  longer  betting  centres,  but  their 
owners  are  keenly  interested  in  sport,  and 
many  jovial  souls  still  notch  calendars  by 
racing  events,  referring  to  some  local  episodes 
as  having  occurred  "  in  the  year  when  Stick- 
phast  won  the  Derby."  Although  the  Run- 
ning Horse  was  a  Hanoverian  emblem,  most 
of  the  houses  of  this  name  within  a  few  miles 
of  Epsom  must  owe  their  origin  to  the  racing 
fraternity.  The  old  Running  Horse  at  Sand- 
ling,  near  Maidstone,  so  students  of  Dickens 
declare,  suggested  Mr.  Pickwick's  adventure 


142  Old   Country   Inns 

with  the  eccentric  steed,  hired  for  the  benefit 
of  Mr.  Winkle. 

Bowls  is  still  almost  as  favourite  a  pastime 
at  the  old  inns  as  it  was  in  the  days  of  Sir 
Francis  Drake.  In  East  Anglia  the  greens 
are  often  of  remarkable  size  and  beautifully 
kept.  The  finest  bowling  green  in  the  South 
of  England  is,  we  believe,  that  behind  the 
Queen's  Head  at  Hawkhurst,  an  old-fashioned 
house  to  be  visited  for  its  sweet  situation 
and  cosy  arrangements — as  well  as  for  the 
almost  unique  collection  of  old  furniture 
gathered  together  by  the  late  Mr.  Clements. 
On  the  lawn  of  the  Anchor  at  Hartfield,  a 
game  is  in  vogue  called  "  Clock  Golf/'  which 
we  have  seen  nowhere  else,  but  which 
possesses  its  attractions. 

It  is  a  traditional  habit  among  prize- 
fighters when  they  retire  on  their  laurels  to 
assume  the  management  of  a  tavern,  where 
their  reputation  makes  them  efficient  in  main- 
taining order  ;  but  the  sedentary  style  of 
life  usually  produces  too  much  adipose 
tissue  for  perfect  health  and  happiness.  Old 
cricketers  also  drift  into  the  same  haven. 
Indeed,  the  public-house  has  contributed 
many  of  the  best  exponents  of  the  national 
game.  William  Clarke,  the  father  of  modern 


Sports  and   Pastimes  143 

cricket,  and  first  secretary  of  the  famous  All 
England  Eleven,  kept  the  Trent  Bridge  Inn 
at  Nottingham;  Noah  Mann,  a  famous 
Sussex  player,  and  one  of  the  heroes  of  the 
Hambleden  Club,  came  from  an  inn  at  North 
Chapel,  near  the  Surrey  border  of  the  county. 
He  is  said  to  have  once  made  ten  runs  with 
one  hit.  At  Mitcham,  nursery  alike  of 
vegetation  and  of  Surrey  cricket,  every 
publican  is  a  cricketer  of  repute.  Bat  and 
Ball,  Cricketers,  and  similar  signs  are,  of 
course,  to  be  met  with  everywhere. 

At  the  Swan,  Ash  Vale,  close  to  Basing- 
stoke  Canal,  and  at  present  kept  by  Mr.  John 
Tupper,  the  well-known  army  trainer,  there 
still  remains  one  of  the  last  rat-pits — of 
course,  now  not  utilized  for  the  sport.  Rat- 
ting survived  cock-fighting  for  a  time,  the  usual 
method  being  to  turn  a  dog  in  with  a  number 
of  rats,  which  he  was  expected  to  kill  within 
a  given  number  of  minutes.  The  pit  was 
about  six  feet  in  diameter  with  a  high  un- 
climbable  rim  either  of  wood  or  polished 
cement. 

A  more  humane,  but  very  exciting  rough- 
and-tumble  competition  may  occasionally  be 
witnessed  in  the  public-houses  of  some  east- 
end  districts,  and  is  entitled  "  Boot  hunting.1' 


144  Old  Country  Inns 

Various  individuals  who  pay  an  entrance  fee 
of  perhaps  sixpence,  group  themselves  on  a 
platform  at  the  end  of  the  room,  and  remove 
their  footgear  which  are  put  into  a  barrel, 
shaken  up,  and  then  deposited  in  a  heap. 
The  signal  is  given,  each  man  scrambles  for 
his  own  property,  and  to  the  first  who  suc- 
ceeds in  getting  his  boots  on  the  prize  is 
awarded.  Sometimes  the  competitors  are 
chosen  by  the  audience  whose  "  gate-money  " 
provides  the  trophy. 

We  can  hardly  trace  the  sites  even  of  the 
inns  and  alehouses  between  Ware  and  Totten- 
ham mentioned  in  the  "  Compleat  Angler." 
But, like  old  Isaac  Walton,  the  modern  piscator 
loves  to  sample  "  the  good  liquor  that  our 
honest  forefathers  did  use  to  drink  of, 
which  preserved  their  health,  and  made  them 
to  live  so  long  and  to  do  so  many  good  deeds ! " 
The  Talbot  has  disappeared  from  Ashbourne 
on  the  Dove,  but  there  are  "  other  inns  as 
good/'  The  Isaac  Walton  Inn,  on  the  Dove, 
has  been  for  many  years  a  favourite  resort 
of  anglers.  On  the  banks  of  the  Thames, 
Kennet,  Arun,  or  Great  Ouse,  there  are 
hostelries  in  which  anglers  much  do  con- 
gregate at  eventide  during  the  season ;  on 
their  walls  gigantic  trout  (suspected  by  the 


Sports   and   Pastimes  145 

stranger  to  be  modelled  in  plaster),  float  in 
most  lifelike  attitude  within  a  sea  of  painted 
glass.  And  we  know  of  snug  bar  parlours  in 
the  backwoods  of  Bermondsey,  Finsbury,  and 
Bethnal  Green,  whither  about  nine  o'clock 
men  laden  with  rods  and  heavy  baskets  or 
sacks  may  be  observed  hurrying  along  to  be 
in  time  for  the  "  weighing  in." 

The  inn  yards  of  Bishopsgate  and  South- 
wark  witnessed  the  early  performances  of  the 
English  drama ;  and  the  auditorium  of  the 
theatre  takes  its  form  from  the  tiers  of 
galleries  surrounding  the  "  pit  "  which  the 
players  found  there.  Music  halls  have  also 
grown  up  from  the  impromptu  concerts  in 
the  taverns.  The  older  music  halls,  like  the 
Oxford,  Middlesex,  or  Deacon's,  were  twenty 
years  ago  simply  public-houses  with  a  hall 
behind  them,  where  a  chairman,  armed  with  a 
hammer  to  maintain  silence,  announced  each 
performer  by  name  and  arranged  the  order 
of  the  programme. 

Many  inns  contain  museums.  At  the  Mar- 
quis of  Granby,  near  New  Cross  Station,  there 
is  a  magnificent  collection  of  hunting-knives, 
rifles,  etc.  The  late  Mr.  Frank  Churchill,  of 
the  White  Lion,  Warlingham,  displayed  in 
the  ancient  chimney-corner  of  that  house 


146  Old  Country   Inns 

gridirons,  spits,  and  domestic  utensils  of 
ancient  pattern,  and  Mr.  Alfred  Churchill 
had  a  similar  museum  at  the  White 
Hart,  at  Bletchingley. 

For  some  unknown  reason  the  police  are 
discouraging  these  museums,  and  in  some 
districts  publicans  are  warned  against  har- 
bouring games  of  any  kinds.  Even  good  old 
English  manly  pastimes  like  bowls  and 
skittles  are  under  the  ban  of  the  licensing 
magistrates. 

The  other  day  we  discussed  the  matter 
with  an  old  yeoman  farmer,  while  we  watched 
a  quartette  of  young  fellows  playing  a  kind  of 
bagatelle.  He  declared  that  the  effect  of 
this  policy,  now  so  sedulously  pursued  by  the 
police,  of  depriving  public-house  frequenters 
of  any  species  of  recreation  whatever,  was 
fast  driving  young  men  into  the  political  clubs 
where  extravagant  gambling  and  hard  drink- 
ing, especially  of  spirits,  was  the  fashion. 
Many  promising  careers  had  been  ruined  in 
this  way — and  this  we  may  corroborate  from 
our  own  experience  in  various  towns.  With 
tears  in  his  eyes  the  old  man  confessed  to  us 
that  his  vote  had  blackballed  his  own  boy 
from  admission  into  the  local  club.  The 
total  expenditure  of  the  group  during  a  whole 


Sports  and    Pastimes  147 

evening's  amusement  at  the  public -house 
amounted  to  a  sum  not  exceeding  a  shilling ; 
perchance  at  the  club  they  might  have  been 
tempted  to  squander  away  at  least  half  their 
week's  earnings. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  INNS  OF  LITERATURE  AND  ART 

JOHN  BALL,  shut  up  in  the  Archbishop's  prison 
at  Canterbury,  fell  a'longing  for  "  the  green 
fields  and  the  whitethorn  bushes,  and  the  lark 
singing  over  the  corn,  and  the  talk  of  good 
fellows  round  the  alehouse  bench.'*  The 
same  craving  for  the  real  things  of  life  comes 
to  every  creative  genius  fretting  against  class 
restrictions.  Sir  Walter  Scott,  when  staying 
with  Wordsworth  at  Grassmere,  usually  man- 
aged to  give  his  host  the  slip  in  order  to  spend 
an  hour  or  two  in  the  Swan  beyond  the  village  ; 
just  as  Addison  had  fled  the  splendid  state 
of  Holland  House  for  the  Old  White  Horse  in 
Kensington  Road.  Either  this  wayside  inn 
or  the  Red  Lion  at  Hampton,  was  the  scene 
of  the  historic  drinking  bout  between  Addison 
and  Pope,  which  so  upset  the  latter's  digestion 
and  sense  of  dignity  that  he  ever  afterwards 
described  the  great  essayist  as  a  terrible 
drunkard.  The  Bull  and  Bush,  in  North  End 
Hampstead,  now  chiefly  patronised  by  holiday 
makers  on  account  of  its  attractive  tea-gardens, 

148 


150  Old  Country  Inns 

was  another  resort  where  Addison,  Dryden, 
Steele,  and  the  rest  of  the  famous  galaxy  of 
wits  loved  to  gather.  It  is  said  also  to  have 
once  been  the  country  seat  of  Hogarth. 

More  temperate  in  their  devotion  to  the 
flowing  bowl,  but  scarcely  less  brilliant  in  their 
abilities,  were  the  company  who  fifty  years  ago 
used  to  visit  the  Bull  at  Woodbridge.  George 
Borrow,  the  gipsy  wanderer ;  Edward  Fitz- 
gerald, the  translator  of  "  Omar  Khayyam/* 
and  Charles  Keene,  the  Punch  Artist,  were 
among  the  number.  Old  John  Grout,  who 
kept  the  house,  was  himself  an  odd  character. 
When  Lord  Tennyson  came  to  stay  with  Fitz- 
gerald, at  Woodbridge,  the  latter  remarked 
to  Grout  that  the  town  ought  to  feel  itself 
honoured.  John  was  not  a  student  of  poetry, 
and  inquired  of  Mr.  Groome  (whose  son  tells 
the  story  in  "  Two  Suffolk  Friends  ")  who  was 
the  gentleman  that  Mr.  Fitzgerald  had  been 
talking  of.  "  Mr.  Tennyson,  the  poet-laureate/' 
was  the  reply.  "  Dissay,"  said  John,  hazily ; 
"anyhow,  he  didn't  fare  to  know  much  about 
bosses  when  I  showed  him  over  my  stables  !" 
In  these  stables  there  is  a  tomb  to  the  memory 
of  George  Carlow,  who  was  buried  there  in 
1738,  at  his  own  special  desire. 

Many,  who  afterwards  rose  to  eminence  in 


The  Inns  of    Literature   and  Art      151 

the  world  of  art  and  letters  were  born  at  inns. 
David  Garrick's  birthplace  was  at  the  Raven 
at  Hereford  ;  at  the  Garrick  Theatre,  hard  by, 
Kitty  Clive,  Mrs.  Siddons  and  Kemble  made 
some  of  their  early  successes.  William  Cobbett 
was  born  at  the  Jolly  Farmer  at  Farnham; 
while  at  the  little  Wheatsheaf  in  Kelvedon,  now 
disused,  but  still  retaining  the  wrought-iron 
bracket  from  which  the  sign  used  to  swing, 
Charles  Spurgeon,  the  famous  preacher,  first 
saw  the  light.  Cardinal  Wolsey's  father  is 
generally  described  as  a  butcher,  but  he  was 
also  a  tavern-keeper  at  Ipswich.  Like  dear 
old  Tom  Hughes,  who  kept  the  Black  Lion 
at  Walsingham,  a  few  years  ago,  he  combined 
with  his  inn,  branch  shops  for  the  sale  of 
bread  and  meat.  It  was  at  the  Black  Bear 
at  Devizes,  then  kept  by  his  father,  that  Sir 
Thomas  Lawrence  first  discovered  his  talent 
as  a  painter.  We  may  add  that  a  personage 
with  an  entirely  different  kind  of  reputation 
—Dick  Turpin — was  born  at  the  Crown, 
Hempstead,  Essex. 

A  very  large  number  of  inns  all  over 
England  are  dedicated  to  the  memory  of 
Shakespeare ;  in  fact,  a  print  dated  1823  shows 
the  chief  portion  of  the  house  where  the  Bard 
was  born  at  Stratford-on-Avon,  as  a  very 

1 1— (8244) 


152 


Old    Country  Inns 


picturesque  inn — the  Swan  and  Maiden  Head 
— with  a  portly,  good-humoured  landlord 
standing  in  the  doorway  and  inviting  visitors 
to  enter  and  drink  a  bumper .  Of  Shakespeare*  s 


Sir  John  Falstaff,  Newington 

characters,  the  one  best  known  on  the  sign- 
boards is  Sir  John  Falstaff.  There  are  three 
Falstaff  inns  on  the  Dover  road.  The  first  is 
that  on  Gad's  Hill,  the  scene  of  the  hero's  most 
glorious  exploit,  and  incidentally  connecting 
him  with  his  prototype,  Sir  John  Oldcastle. 
At  Canterbury,  just  outside  the  West  Gate, 
the  Falstaff  is  a  fine  old-fashioned  comfortable 
house  with  some  very  good  linen-fold  panelling. 


The  Inns   of   Literature  and  Art     153 

But  we  love  best  to  linger  over  the  Sir  John 
Falstaff  at  Newington,  near  Sittingbourne. 
The  projecting  upper  storey,  bracketed  out  on 
grinning  satyrs,  the  excellent  portrait  of  the 
fat  knight  on  the  signboard,  the  noble  cornice, 
and  the  rakish  lines  of  the  great  red-tiled  roof 
all  give  the  distinctive  character  of  the  best 
Jacobean  work.  Standing  amid  its  homelier 
neighbours  in  the  village  street,  it  looks  like 
a  rollicking  cavalier  who  has  come  down  in  the 
world  and  is  just  a  little  bit  ashamed  of  being 
seen  in  such  company.  His  finery  is  sadly 
faded ;  he  is  obliged  now  to  shift  for  himself 
and  pick  up  what  he  can  among  these  com- 
mon people.  If  we  wait  awhile,  he  will  take 
us  aside,  and  confide  in  us  about  his  doings, 
when  he  could  share  in  the  gay  monarch's 
revels  with  the  best  of  them.  Ben  Jonson, 
Garrick,  and  Dr.  Syntax,  are  almost  the  only 
other  literary  or  dramatic  signs  that  are  at 
all  common. 

The  Three  Pigeons  at  Brentford  was,  in  all 
likelihood,  one  of  the  haunts  of  Shakespeare, 
and  was  certainly  frequented  by  Ben  Jonson, 
who  mentions  it  in  the  "  Alchymist,"  as  also 
does  Thomas  Middleton  in  "  The  Roaring 
Girl."  At  this  time  the  landlord  was  John 
Lowin,of  the  Globe  Theatre,  said  to  have  been 


154  Old   Country    Inns 

the  original  creator  of  Falstaff  in  the  "  Merry 
Wives  of  Windsor/'  and  of  the  part  of 
Henry  VIII.  He  died  in  great  poverty  during 
the  Commonwealth  and  the  inn  has  lately 
been  rebuilt. 

Whether  the  Bell  at  Edmonton  is  really  the 
house  at  which  John  Gilpin  ought  to  have 
dined  is  a  controversial  point,  in  spite  of  the 
graphic  portrait  of  the  hero  on  his  mettlesome 
steed.  More  authentic  is  the  fact  that,  at  the 
Bell,  Charles  Lamb  was  in  the  habit  of  taking 
a  parting  glass  with  his  friends  before  seeing 
them  off  by  the  London  coach. 

The  White  Swan  at  Henley-in-Arden,  and 
the  Red  Lion  at  Henley,  dispute  the  claim  to 
having  inspired  William  Shenstone's  poem 
"  Written  at  an  Inn."  Dr.  Johnson  decided 
in  favour  of  the  latter,  and  would  repeat  with 
emotion  the  concluding  verse  which  was 
scratched  in  the  inn  window  : 

"  Whoe'er   has   travelled   life's   dull   round 

Where'er  his  stages  may  have  been, 
May  sigh  to  think  he  still  has  found 
The  warmest  welcome  at  an  inn." 

By  way  of  antithesis  we  subjoin  the  follow- 
ing poem  on  a  window  in  the  Star  and  Garter 
Sit  Brighton: 


The  Inns  of    Literature  and  Art     155 

"WM.  VEAR 

Slept  Here 

October  the  1st 

Last  Year." 

In  the  earlier  chapters  of  "  The  Cloister 
and  the  Hearth/'  a  variety  of  characteristic 
mediaeval  inns  are  described,  with  much 
archaeological  accuracy  and  also  with  a  sly 
satirical  humour.  "  Like  Father,  like  Son/' 
is  a  proverb  very  true  in  the  unchanging 
byways  of  Central  Europe.  Charles  Reade  is 
for  ever  giving  us  graphic  touches  regarding 
the  eccentricities  and  shortcomings  of  Black 
Forest  and  Burgundian  inns  of  our  own  time. 
Delightful,  too,  is  the  scene  at  the  Pied  Merlin 
in  Conan  Doyle's  "  White  Company,"  and  we 
appreciate  it  none  the  less  that  some  of  the 
appointments  at  Dame  Eliza's  hostelry  were 
scarcely  likely  to  be  found  in  a  New  Forest 
inn  so  early  as  the  reign  of  Edward  III. 

For  the  coaching  inns  recourse  must  be  had 
to  the  pages  of  "  Joseph  Andrews,"  "  Tom 
Jones,"  and  "  Pickwick,"  and  for  the  smaller 
class  of  inns,  "  The  Old  Curiosity  Shop." 
Fielding  and  Dickens  are  each  inimitable  in 
their  way  ;  the  earlier  novelist  concentrates 
on  humanity  in  its  many  sorts  and  conditions  ; 
Dickens,  on  the  contrary,  revels  in  surrounding 


156  Old   Country    Inns 

details.  He  loves  to  dally  with  every  smoke- 
stained  beam,  lattice-window,  or  row  of 
battered  pewter  pots  and  blue  mugs,  before 
ushering  in  the  motley  throng  who  gather 
round  the  tap-room  fire,  or  the  fine  lady  and 
gentleman  in  the  smartly-appointed  chaise 
whom  the  landlord  receives  so  obsequiously. 

Many  of  the  best  scenes  in  old  comedies 
are  laid  in  the  inns.  When  they  were  a 
general  place  of  resort  for  all  classes,  including 
men  of  rank  and  fortune,  they  naturally  lent 
themselves  to  the  unexpected  meetings  and 
odd  blunders  which  serve  to  make  up  a 
farcical  plot.  County,  racing  and  hunting 
balls  were  all  held  in  the  principal  inn  of  a 
town ;  just  the  opportunity  for  a  needy 
adventurer  to  introduce  himself  by  imper- 
sonation or  otherwise.  The  details  of  the 
scheme  are  arranged  in  the  Coffee  Room  ; 
and  landlord  or  waiter  supply  the  necessary 
information  enabling  the  lover  to  pose  suc- 
cessfully as  Simon  Pure.  Then,  again,  the 
audience  were  familiar  with  the  surroundings 
and  were  easily  drawn  into  sympathetic 
interest.  Waiter,  boots,  and  ostler  were  all 
valuable  properties  to  be  utilized  in  supplying 
the  humorous  element  as  occasion  served. 

George  Colman,  the  younger,  chose  for  much 


The  Inns    of  Literature    and  Art      157 

of  the  action  of  his  play,  "  John  Bull,  or  the 
Englishman's  Fireside/'  a  little  wayside  inn 
on  the  Cornish  border.  Sir  Walter  Scott 
praised  this  comedy  as  "  by  far  the  best 
example  of  our  later  comic  drama.  The 
scenes  of  broad  humour  are  executed  in  the 
best  possible  taste  ;  and  the  whimsical,  yet 
native  characters,  reflect  the  manners  of 
real  life/'  Not  the  least  pleasing  of  these  is 
Denis  Brulgruddery,  the  warm-hearted  im- 
pulsive landlord  of  the  Red  Cow.  And  so  it 
ever  is.  We  associate  the  inn  with  genial 
comfort  and  old  English  hospitality ;  the 
sight  of  it  kindles  every  good  sentiment  of 
human  kindness  within  us,  and  we  hail  with 
enthusiasm  the  reconciliation  of  father  and 
child,  the  union  of  two  constant  lovers,  and 
happiness  restored  all  round.  There  is  nothing 
so  successful  on  the  stage  as  an  inn  scene. 

Artists  have  also  shared  in  the  making  of 
the  inns.  A  host  of  signboards  are  attributed 
to  Hogarth  or  that  eccentric  and  profligate 
genius,  George  Morland.  Isaac  Fuller  was 
another  eminent  painter  who  turned  his  tal- 
ents in  this  direction.  The  Royal  Oak  sign 
at  Bettws-y-Coed,  now  in  the  possession  of 
the  Willoughby  d'Eresby  family,  was  painted 
by  David  Cox,  the  George  and  Dragon  at 


158  Old    Country  Inns 

Hayes,  in  Kent,  by  Millais.  Outside  the 
King's  Head  at  Chigwell — the  Maypole  of 
"  Barnaby  Rudge " — hangs  a  portrait  of 
Charles  I,  by  Miss  Herring,  while  the  sign  of 
the  George  and  Dragon  at  Wargrave  is  the 
work  of  Mr.  George  Leslie,  R. A.  St.  George 
is  depicted  as  taking  refreshment  after  the 
battle  out  of  a  tankard  of  respectable  size. 
The  old  inn  by  the  bridge  at  Brandon  on  the 
Little  Ouse,  and  the  Old  Swan  at  Fittleworth 
on  the  Arun,  are  full  of  paintings  by  modern 
artists  ;  the  latter  has  one  room  ornamented 
with  panel  pictures  by  various  hands,  and 
the  sign  (too  delicate  to  hang  outside)  was 
painted  by  Caton  Woodville.  There  was  at 
Horncastle,  in  Lincolnshire,  a  signboard 
painted  by  Hilton,  the  Royal  Academician, 
which  hung  over  the  inn  door  for  over  forty 
years,  finally  being  taken  down  and  sold, 
on  a  change  of  tenancy. 

Mr.  J.  F.  Herring,  the  animal  painter,  used 
to  relate  how  he  once  painted  a  signboard  for 
a  carpenter  employed  by  him.  The  car- 
penter afterwards  took  a  beer  shop  and  put 
the  sign,  which  represented  the  "  Flying 
Dutchman/'  over  the  door.  Eventually  he 
sold  it  for  £50,  and  with  the  money  emigrated 
to  Australia. 


The  Inns   of   Literature  and  Art     159 

Most  old  inns  contain  pictures  more  or  less 
valuable,  or  at  least  old  sporting  prints. 
Few  can  compare  in  this  respect  with  the 
George  at  Aylesbury,  rebuilt  about  1810, 
which  from  time  immemorial  has  possessed 
a  remarkable  collection  of  good  pictures ; 
portraits  by  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  and  My  tens, 
besides  some  well  executed  copies  of  Rubens, 
Raphael  and  others.  It  is  supposed  to  have 
been  brought  from  Eythorpe  House,  demol- 
ished in  the  early  years  of  the  nineteenth 
century. 


CHAPTER  XII 

FANCIFUL   SIGNS   AND   CURIOUS  SIGNBOARDS 

THE  antiquarian  magazines  of  the  last  cen- 
tury are  full  of  correspondence  and  ingenious 
explanations  of  such  signs  as  the  Pig  and 
Whistle y  Cat  and  Fiddle,  or  Goat  in  Boots. 
Many  of  the  suggestions  offered  are  far  more 
whimsical  in  character  than  the  devices  they 
profess  to  explain.  "  Cat  and  Fiddle "  is 
supposed  to  be  a  corruption  of  Caton  Fiddle, 
a  certain  incorruptible  Governor  of  Calais. 
Pig  and  Whistle  has  been  traced  to  "  Peg  and 
Wassail/'  with  reference  to  the  pegged 
tankards  formerly  passed  round  for  the  loving 
cup,  each  guest  being  expected  to  drink  down 
to  the  next  peg.  "  Pix  and  Housel,"  in  honour 
of  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  or  the  Danish  Ave 
Maria,  and  "Pige  Washail"  have  also  been 
suggested  by  the  learned.  Mr.  T.  C.  Croker,  in 
his  "  Walk  to  Fulham,"  attempted  to  derive 
the  Goat  in  Boots  at  Fulham  from  der  Goden 
Boodey  the  "  Messenger  of  the  Gods,"  or 
Mercury ;  the  idea  being  that  the  house 
was  originally  a  posting  inn.  The  Pig  and 

160 


Signs  and   Signboards  161 

Whistle  may  possibly  be  a  rustic  corruption 
of  the  Bear  and  Ragged  Staff  on  a  somewhat 
faded  signboard. 

Animals  masquerading  in  human  attire  or 
performing  human  actions  were  a  favourite 
conceit  of  the  mediaeval  craftsman,  as  may 
be  seen  by  the  carvings  on  the  stalls  of  our  old 
cathedrals.  Most  likely  we  owe  these  humor- 
ous signs  to  the  sign-painter  himself.  He 
was  commissioned  to  design  an  advertise- 
ment that  would  puzzle  inquisitive  people 
and  so  attract  customers. 

The  Goat  and  Compasses  is  supposed  to  be 
a  corruption  of  a  motto  set  up  over  inns 
during  the  period  of  puritan  tyranny,  "  God 
encompasses  us"  ;  Bag  of  Nails  of  " Bac- 
chanals." In  default  of  better  explanations 
we  must  accept  these.  Until  recently  a  public 
house  existed  in  St.  James*  Street,  called  the 
Savoy  Weepers — a  name  which  might  open  up 
an  endless  mystification  if  we  did  not  know 
that  the  house  was  previously  occupied  by 
the  S avoir  Vivre  Club.  The  Goose  and  Grid- 
iron is,  according  to  the  Tatler,  a  parody  of 
the  favourite  trade-mark  of  early  music 
houses,  the  Swan  and  Harp ;  while  the 
Monster  in  Pimlico  may  have  been  the  monas- 
tery inn,  built  during  the  time  that  the 


162  Old    Country  Inns 

monks  of  Westminster  Abbey  farmed  this 
estate. 

Why  Not,  and  Dew  Drop  Inn  are,  of  course, 
invitations  to  the  wayfarer ;  Bird  in  Hand 
and  Last  House,  or  Final,  suggestion  that  he 
should  not  waste  his  opportunities  to  imbibe. 

In  the  village  of  Sennen,  Cornwall,  is  one 
of  the  best  known  inns,  having  for  its  sign 
the  First  and  Last,  which  is  quite  ob- 
viously not  intended  as  a  limit  to  the  drinker. 
It  has  reference,  of  course,  to  the  fact  that  if 
you  should  be  journeying  to  the  south-west 
the  inn  will  be  the  last  one  you  will  meet  with 
before  reaching  the  sea,  whereas  it  will  be  the 
first  should  your  journey  be  by  ship  coming 
eastward.  As  a  matter  of  actual  experience, 
hundreds  of  ships  which  in  the  course  of  a 
year  "  pick  up "  the  light  at  Land's  End 
have  not  been  in  sight  of  a  public -house  for 
months,  during  which  they  have  been  crossing 
thousands  of  miles  of  ocean.  So  that  in  the 
case  of  sailors  working  these  particular  vessels 
the  name  of  the  inn  has  a  very  appealing 
significance. 

He  would  be  a  bold  man  who  would  venture 
to  assert  positively  which  is  the  best -known  inn 
in  London  ;  but  if  the  map  be  consulted,  the 
Elephant  and  Castle  will  be  seen  to  occupy  a 


Signs  and    Signboards  163 

position  at  the  junction  of  several  great  roads 
to  the  south,  and  if  the  volume  of  traffic 
which  must  daily  go  past  the  doors  is  con- 
sidered, it  needs  very  little  more  to  convince 
most  people  that  the  Elephant  is  probably 
better  known  by  name  at  all  events,  than  any 
other  public -house  within  the  four-mile  radius 
of  Charing  Cross.  In  coaching  times  the 
inn  was  passed  by  every  traveller  bound  for 
the  south-east,  and  some  authorities  have 
contended  that  when  Shakespeare  recom- 
mended that  "  In  the  south  suburbs  at  the  Ele- 
phant is  best  to  lodge, "  *  he  had  in  his  mind 
the  celebrated  hostelry  of  Newington  Butts. 
But  this  is  probably  a  mistake,  for  the 
Elephant  and  Castle  did  not  come  into  exist- 
ence until  long  after  Shakespeare's  time.  In 
1658,  the  ground  upon  which  it  now  stands 
was  not  built  upon,  but  probably  the  first 
inn  on  the  site  came  into  existence  about 
twenty  years  later.  In  1824,  the  inn  was 
rebuilt,  and  since  then  there  have  been  many 
additions  and  alterations  which  have  got 
farther  and  farther  away  from  the  original 
building  as  it  was  in  the  seventeenth  century. 
The  Elephant  and  Castle,  as  far  as  the  anti- 
quarian is  concerned,  is  now  merely  a  curious 
1  "Twelfth  Night"  ;  Act  III,  Sc.  3. 


164  Old   Country    Inns 

name.  Another  extremely  rare  sign  in  Lon- 
don is  the  Sieve,  which  as  late  as  1890  stood 
in  the  Minories.  In  1669  there  was  a  Sieve  in 
Aldermanbury,  but  more  is  known  of  the  one 
in  the  Minories.  It  was  referred  to  in  the 
"  Vade  Mecum  for  Malt  Worms,"  1715,  and 
was  then  considered  one  of  the  oldest  and 
most  noted  public-houses  of  London.  It 
adjoined  Holy  Trinity  Church.  Under- 
neath were  crypt-like  cellars  which  may 
originally  have  had  connection  with  the 
adjoining  convent  of  the  nuns  of  St.  Clare. 
In  the  records  of  the  Parish  of  Holy  Trinity, 
which  was  all  included  within  the  ancient 
precincts  of  the  convent,  there  is  mention  of 
the  appointment  of  a  "  vitler  to  the  parish/1 
On  February  13th,  1705,  is  a  record  of  a  vestry 
meeting  at  the  Sieve  "  about  agreeing  to  pull 
down  the  churchyard  wall."  On  this 
occasion  so  serious  was  the  discussion  that  as 
much  as  six  shillings  was  spent  in  refresh- 
ments before  the  matter  was  settled.  A  good 
deal  of  speculation  on  the  origin  of  the  name 
of  this  old  inn  has  been  indulged  in,  one 
solution  being  that  the  chalk  foundations 
in  the  crypt  may  have  suggested  the  sign. 
The  Metropolitan  Railway  Company  acquired 
the  property,  and  closed  the  house  in  1886, 


Signs   and    Signboards  165 

before    its    final    disappearance   four    years 
later. 

The  Adam  and  Eve,  another  common 
London  sign,  is,  we  have  reason  to  believe, 
frequently  a  repainting  of  the  Zodiacal  sign 
of  the  Twins,  the  city  having  according  to 
astrologers,  its  ascendant  in  Gemini,  the 


Sign  of  Fox  and  Hounds,  Barley 

House  of  Mercury,  who  rules  merchandise  and 
all  ingenious  arts. 

An  odd  sign  to  find  in  the  heart  of  Essex 
is  the  Whalebone,  and  in  the  same  county  at 
Great  Leighs,  there  is  a  Saint  Anna's  Castle, 
which  is  supposed  to  stand  on  the  site  of  a 
hermitage  made  sacred  by  the  presence  of 
some  local  saint. 

Dean  Swift  was  once  asked  by  the  village 
barber  of  Co.  Meath,  by  whom  he  was  regularly 
shaved,  to  assist  him  in  the  invention  of  an 


166  Old   Country   Inns 

inscription  for  the  sign  of  the  Jolly  Barber, 
a  house  which  it  was  intended  to  conduct 
as  an  inn  and  a  barber's  shop  combined. 
Swift  at  once  composed  the  following  couplet, 
which  remained  under  the  painted  sign 
depicting  a  barber  with  a  razor  in  one  hand 
and  a  full  pot  in  the  other,  for  many  years : 

"  Rove  not  from  pole  to  pole,  but  step  in  here 
Where  nought  excels  the  shaving  but — the  beer." 

The  Three  Loggerheads,  generally  in  the  form 
of  two  silly  looking  faces  and  the  motto : 

"  We  three 
Loggerheads  be," 

is  an  attempt  to  take  a  mean  advantage  of 
the  unwary  spectator.  Sometimes  two  asses 
appear  on  the  signboard  with  the  inscription 
"  When  shall  we  three  meet  again  ?  "  and  this 
sign  is  alluded  to  by  Shakespeare  in  "  Twelfth 
Night/'  At  Mabelthorpe  is  a  unique  sign 
called  the  Book  in  Hand.  It  is  not  so  much 
on  account  of  its  name  that  it  is  curious,  for 
this  might  have  occurred  to  anyone,  particu- 
larly in  days  when  the  ability  to  read  was  not 
so  conspicuously  common  as  it  is  to-day. 
But  the  sign  itself  is  so  odd.  A  rudely  shaped 
hand  and  forearm  sticks  out  straight  from  the 
brick  wall  and  in  the  hand  is  an  open  book 
with  three  Latin  crosses  on  the  right  page 


Signs   and    Signboards  167 

and  one  on  the  left.  The  origin  of  the  sign 
is  lost,  but  it  seems  obviously  to  have  had 
at  one  time  some  ecclesiastical  connection. 

Many  names  of  inns  have  arisen  from  the 
puns  on  the  landlord  or  locality.  The  Black 
Swan  in  Bartholomew  Lane,  once  a  resort 
for  musical  celebrities  was  kept  by  Owen 
Swan,  parish  clerk  of  St.  Michael's  Cornhill. 
The  Brace  Tavern,  in  Queen's  Bench  Prison, 
was  opened  by  two  brothers  of  the  name  of 
Partridge.  Hat  and  Tun  was  the  sign  of  a 
public-house  in  Hatton  Garden,  and  the 
Warbolt  in  Tun  of  the  little  inn  at  Warbleton, 
in  Sussex.  At  least  one  Three  Pigeons  began 
business  with  a  worthy  surnamed  Pigeon  for 
landlord,  although  this  sign  is  usually  derived 
from  a  coat  of  arms  charged  with  three  martlets. 
According  to  a  correspondent,  the  Bell  Inn 
of  a  village  not  far  from  Oxford  was  formerly 
kept  by  John  Good,  who  set  up  this  inscription 
under  a  gigantic  representation  of  a  bell  : 

"  My  name,  likewise  my  ale,  is  good, 
Walk  in,  and  taste  my  own  home-brewed, 
For  all  that  know  John  Good  can  tell 
That,  like  my  sign,  it  bears  the  Bell." 

Ben  Jonson  in  the  "  Alchymist  "  satirised 
this  kind  of  wit  : 

"  He  shall  have  a  bell  that's  Abel, 
And  by  it  standing  one  whose  name  is  Dee 

la— (a«44) 


168  Old    Country   Inns 

In  a  rug  gown,  there's  D  and  Rug,  that's  Drug  ; 

And  right  anenst  him  a  dog  snarling  err, 

There's  Dmgger,  Abel  Drugger.     That's    his    sign." 

The  last  Honest  Lawyer  in  London  has  just 
ceased  to  exist,  but  there  is  still  an  Honest 
Miller  at  Withersden,  near  Wye,  in  Kent. 
It  is  approached  by  devious  ways  and  difficult 
to  find.  Hence  perhaps  the  name.  Like  the 
Silent  Woman,  the  honest  lawyer  was  repre- 
sented with  his  head  cut  off.  A  very  famous 
signboard,  said  to  have  been  painted  by 
Hogarth,  was  The  Man  loaded  with  Mischief, 
in  Oxford  Street.  The  man  was  carrying 
a  woman,  glass  in  hand,  a  magpie,  and  a 
monkey.  Underneath  was  the  rhyme : 
"  A  monkey,  a  magpie,  and  a  wife 
Is  the  true  emblem  of  strife." 

At  Grantham,  an  eccentric  lord  of  the  manor 
about  a  century  ago  insisted  on  having  all  the 
signs  of  public -houses  on  his  estate  painted 
with  the  political  colour  which  he  favoured. 
Thus  the  town  possessed,  in  1830,  the  follow- 
ing :  Blue  Boat,  Blue  Sheep,  Blue  Bull,  Blue 
Ram,  Blue  Lion,  Blue  Bell,  Blue  Cow,  Blue 
Boar,  Blue  Horse,  and  Blue  Inn.  By  way  of 
retaliation,  a  neighbouring  landowner  and 
political  opponent  actually  named  one  of  his 
houses  the  Blue  A  ss.  Grantham  also  can  boast 
of  the  original  Beehive  Inn  with  the  motto  : 


Signs   and    Signboards  169 

"  Stop  !    Traveller,  this  wondrous  sign  explore, 
And  say  when  thou  hast  viewed  it  o'er, 
Grantham,  now,  two  rarities  are  thine, 
A  lofty  steeple,  and  a  living  sign." 

On  Gallows  Tree  Heath,  near  Reading, 
there  stands  a  Reformation  Inny  somewhat 
grim  and  tantalizing  in  its  greeting  to  the 
unfortunate  wretches  who  were  led  past  it  to 
execution,  and  had  lost  the  opportunity  to 
profit  by  the  advice.  A  cynical  humour  of 
the  same  description  must  have  suggested 
the  Half  Brick  for  the  sign  of  an  inn  at  Worth- 
ing. It  is  said  that  the  aborigines  of  some 
towns  in  England  invariably  welcome  a 
stranger  by  "  heaving  half  a  brick  at  him." 

The  original  Hole  in  the  Wall  is  believed 
to  have  been  either  (1)  a  highwayman's 
retreat,  such  as  the  Hole  in  the  Wall  in  Chandos 
Street,  where  Claude  Duval  was  captured,  or 
(2)  an  aperture  made  in  the  wall  of  a  debtor's 
prison  through  which  charitable  people  might 
offer  gifts  of  money  or  victuals  to  the  unfor- 
tunate inmates.  At  the  Hole  in  the  Wall 
in  the  Borough  there  is  a  museum  of  curiosities 
worth  a  visit,  and  another  under  the  railway 
arches  of  Waterloo  Station  is  a  noted  depot 
for  Petersfield  ales,  much  frequented  by  rail- 
way men  and  various  odd  characters.  There 
is  to  this  day  a  very  suggestive  hole  in  the  wall 


170 


Old  Country  Inns 


at  Turpin's  Cave,  a  small  inn  near  High 
Beech,  Epping  Forest.  In  this  hole  it  is 
commonly  believed  that  the  celebrated  high- 
wayman hid  himself  on  many  occasions  when 
hard  pressed  by  the  police.  The  story  can 


Sign  of  Black's  Head,  Ashbourne 

very  easily  be  believed  by  anyone  with  a 
spark  of  imagination,  for  the  inn  lies  in  a 
secluded  nook  which  even  to-day  is  not  at  all 
easy  to  find,  in  spite  of  a  signboard  stuck  up 
in  the  gorse  bushes  some  little  distance  from 
the  road.  The  hole  itself  is  a  kind  of  arched 
ruin,  bricked  over,  and  might  at  a  pinch  have 
held  Black  Bess  and  her  famous  rider. 

Almost  gone  are  the  heavy  frames  and 
beams  which  once  stretched  across  the  high- 
ways and  effectually  proclaimed  the  name 
and  style  under  which  the  innkeeper  carried 
on  his  business.  On  these  beams  a  group  of 


Signs   and   Signboards  171 

swans  disported  in  effigy  before  the  Four 
Swans  at  Waltham  Cross.  A  fine  magpie 
dangled  from  the  centre  at  Stonham,  Suffolk, 
while  elsewhere  a  fox  was  represented  crossing 
the  beam  and  followed  by  a  bevy  of  hounds. 
There  is  still  remaining  such  a  beam,  from  the 
centre  of  which  a  bell  is  suspended  outside  the 
Bell  at  Edenbridge.  Another  is  still  in  use 
at  Ashbourne,  Derbyshire,  where  the  Green 
Man  and  Black's  Head,  an  old  Georgian  posting 
house,  announces  its  existence  by  a  long  beam 
stretched  across  the  street,  supported  at  one 
end  by  a  pole,  the  other  end  running  into  the 
red  brick  wall  of  the  building,  immediately 
over  the  typical  archway  leading  to  the  inn 
yard.  The  black's  head  is  an  effigy  in  carved 
and  painted  wood,  planted  firmly  in  the  centre 
of  the  beam  and  looking  for  all  the  world 
as  if  it  had  only  lately  been  cut  off  and  put 
there  to  warn  other  blacks  of  a  similar  awful 
fate,  if  ever  they  should  chance  to  come 
to  Ashbourne.  Under  the  head,  suspended 
from  the  beam  is  a  big  framed  picture,  and  a 
small  secondary  beam  on  each  side  has  re- 
cently been  placed  to  carry  those  two  terribly 
modern  words,  "  garage "  and  "  petrol." 
One  can  fancy  the  old  driver  of  the  four-in- 
hand,  could  he  come  to  life  again,  scratching 


172  Old  Country  Inns 

his  head  in  perplexity  over  the  hidden 
mysteries  of  these  literary  innovations  to  the 
familiar  sign.  Ashbourne,  it  may  be  remarked 
in  passing,  whilst  perhaps  not  glorying  in 
"  one  man  one  public-house/*  is  certainly  as 
close  to  that  condition  of  things  as  any  town 
in  England.  To  a  stranger  visiting  Ash- 
bourne  in  the  middle  of  the  week  and  feeling 
the  charm  of  its  quiet  old-world  streets  with 
but  few  people  walking  about,  it  is  a  matter 
for  wonder  as  to  how  all  the  licensed  houses 
keep  going.  But  go  there  on  market  days  and 
note  the  waggons  and  farmers*  carts  standing 
in  rows  outside  every  hostelry  and  the  matter 
becomes  much  more  easily  understood. 
Ashbourne,  like  one  or  two  other  towns  of  the 
North  Derbyshire  and  Staffordshire  moors, 
has  until  quite  recently  been  cut  off  from  the 
run  of  the  country's  traffic,  and  is  still  a  market 
centre  for  a  very  extensive  agricultural  dis- 
trict. Within  the  last  year  or  two  a  road 
motor  service  has  placed  it  in  rapid  and  fre- 
quent communication  with  the  county  town, 
so  that  this  comparative  isolation  is  likely  to 
last  very  little  longer. 

The  White  Hart  at  Scole,  in  Norfolk,  once 
had  the  most  expensive  and  elaborate  sign 
of  this  character  ever  produced.  High  above 


Signs  and  Signboards 


173 


the  road  it  stretched,  on  one  side  attached 
to  the  house,  and  resting  on  a  brick  pier  at 
the  opposite  end  across  the  way.  In  the  centre 
was  a  noble  White  Hart,  carved  in  a  stately 
wreath,  while  on  each  side  were  no  less  than 


Sign  of  White  Hart,  Witham 


twenty-four  allegorical  figures  in  compart- 
ments. The  whole  was  designed  by  John 
Fairchild,  in  1655,  and  cost  £1,057.  An 
engraving  was  published  by  Martin  in  1740. 
By  the  way,  this  inn  also  possessed  "  a 
very  large  round  bed  big  enough  to  hold 


174  Old  Country    Inns 

fifteen  or  twenty  couples  in  imitation  of  the 
great  bed  at  Ware." 

Of  existing  signs,  the  most  remarkable  is 
the  Red  Lion  of  Martlesham  outside  an  inn 
which  is  itself  both  old  and  curious.  This 
monster,  a  byword  all  over  Suffolk,  was 
probably  at  one  time  the  figure-head  of  a 
ship,  and  local  tradition  ascribes  it  to  one  of 
the  Dutch  warships  destroyed  in  the  battle 
of  Sole  Bay,  fought  off  Southwold  in  1672. 
Outside  the  Bear  at  Wantage  stands  a  life- 
like carved  bear  on  a  high  pedestal ;  at  the 
Bear  at  Chelsham,  in  Surrey,  a  large  white 
bear  lurks  amongst  the  shrubs  of  the  front 
garden  in  a  way  very  startling  to  timid 
passers-by,  especially  at  dusk.  The  Swan  at 
Great  Shefford,  in  Bucks,  has  a  most  effective 
sign,  in  the  form  of  a  large  vane  representing 
a  swan  ;  while  the  White  Horse  at  Ipswich,  as 
in  Mr.  Pickwick's  time,  "  is  rendered  the  more 
conspicuous  by  a  stone  statue  of  some 
rapacious  animal  with  flowing  mane  and  tail 
distantly  resembling  an  insane  cart-horse, 
which  is  elevated  above  the  principal  door." 

The  disused  Sun  Inn  at  Saffron  Walden, 
built  about  1625,  has  for  its  sign  a  noble  piece 
of  plaster  work  in  the  tympanum  representing 
the  Sun  supported  by  two  giants.  A  curious 


Signs   and    Signboards 


175 


old  piece  of  carving  which  displays  a  white 
swan  chained  to  a  tree  flanked  by  the  arms  of 
England  and  France  forms  the  sign  of  the 


Angel  Inn,  Theale 

Swan  Inn  at  Clare,  and  probably  is  intended 
to  commemorate  some  triumph  of  the  House 
of  Clarence  over  the  Lancastrians.  Another 
beautiful  little  inn,  now  disused  and  sadly 
neglected,  the  Angel  at  Theale,  has  angel  heads 
introduced  over  each  of  its  dainty  oriels. 


176  Old  Country  Inns 

Many  of  the  White  Hart  inns  retain  painted 
signboards  of  quite  passable  quality.  At 
Chelmsford,  the  animal  is  carved  and  rests 
on  a  projecting  bracket.  More  prominent, 
though  not  conceived  in  a  very  artistic  spirit, 
is  the  White  Hart  at  Witham,  cut  out  and 
painted  on  a  huge  piece  of  sheet  copper. 
This  is  widely  known  as  the  most  conspicuous 
and  telling  sign  on  the  road  from  London  to 
Ipswich. 

The  White  Hart  in  the  Borough,  now  con- 
verted into  a  club  in  honour  of  Sam  Weller, 
possessed  anciently  the  largest  signboard  in 
London.  Perhaps  this  is  why  Jack  Cade 
selected  it  in  1450  for  his  headquarters. 
Of  existing  signboards  the  most  elaborate  is 
the  Five  Alls  at  Marlborough,  once  a  very 
common  subject  for  the  tavern  picture.  The 
first  compartment  portrays  the  Queen  with 
the  label,  "  I  rule  all."  In  the  second  is  a 
Bishop,  "  I  pray  for  all,"  Next  comes  a 
lawyer,  "  I  plead  for  all,"  followed  by  a 
truculent  soldier,  "  I  fight  for  all."  The  last 
figure  is  the  taxpayer,  "  I  pay  for  all."  Some 
facetious  innkeepers  added  a  sixth,  the  Devil 
with  the  motto,  "  I  take  all !  "  This  sign  with 
local  modifications  is  not  unknown  outside 
the  drinking  shops  in  Holland,  and,  according 


Signs  and   Signboards  177 

to  Larbert,  a  characteristic  example  may  be 
seen  swinging  under  the  blue  sky  in  the  sunny 
street  of  Valetta  in  Malta.  The  largest 
sign  we  have  ever  come  across  is  the  tile 
painting  on  the  front  of  the  Kentish  Drovers  in 
the  old  Kent  Road. 

But  the  number  of  these  quaint  and  comical 
signs  is  diminishing  every  year.  The  inn- 
keeper plies  his  trade  under  more  difficult 
conditions  and  is  glad  to  accept  the  tempting 
cash  offers  made  to  him  by  collectors.  In 
place  of  the  old  carved  figures  or  painting, 
last  survival  of  the  days  when  every  building 
in  a  town  was  distinguished  by  some  badge 
or  device,  the  name  of  a  public-house  now 
generally  appears  written  in  gilt  letters  on 
the  signboard.  Even  this  is  frequently  lost 
amid  the  flaring  advertisements  of  the  brewer, 
and  of  the  various  brands  of  whiskey  retailed 
in  the  establishment.  In  fact,  the  frequenters 
of  such  a  house  of  entertainment,  especially 
in  the  London  district,  are  sometimes  ignorant 
of  its  ancient  designation,  and  refer  to  it  either 
by  the  name  of  the  landlord,  or  of  the  whole- 
sale dealer,  "Mooney's"  or  "Guests/*  for 
whose  business  it  serves  as  a  local  branch. 

Landlords  of  inns  near  London  are  not 
usually  very  original  in  their  views  of  life, 


178  Old   Country    Inns 

and  rarely  advertise  any  spark  of  humour. 
Perhaps  they  take  their  duties  to  the  public 
too  seriously.  Occasionally,  however,  one 
comes  across  evidence  that  the  keeper  of  an 
inn  is  sufficiently  detached  in  mind  as  to 
admit  within  the  walls  of  his  house  of  business 
a  jest  or  two  in  print.  These  are  usually 
framed  and  hung  up  in  the  bar,  and  as  they 
have  never  been  seen  quite  new,  but  are  fre- 
quently fly-blown  and  yellow  with  age,  it 
would  seem  to  follow  that  the  race  of  face- 
tious landlords  has  come  to  an  end.  In  the 
Duke  of  Wellington  Inn,  near  High  Beech, 
Epping  Forest,  the  following  rules  hang  in  the 
bar.  They  are  probably  from  their  phraseology 
American  in  origin,  and  the  second  was 
evidently  designed  as  a  sarcastic  if  not 
effectual  check  upon  manners  and  customs  in 
business  houses  of  the  States. 

NOTICE 

1.  A  man  is  kept  engaged  in  the  yard  to  do  all  the 

CURSING  and  SWEARING  at  this  establishment. 

2.  A  Dog  is  kept  to  do  all  the  BARKING. 

3.  Our  Potman  or  "  Quicker  Out  "  has  won  seventy-five 

prizes,  and  is  an  excellent  shot  with  a  Revolver. 

4.  The  UNDERTAKER  calls  every  morning  FOR  ORDERS. 

5.  The  Lord  helps  those  who  help  themselves  ;   but  the 

Lord  help  those  that  are  caught  helping  themselves 
here. 


Signs  and   Signboards  179 

This  notice  hangs  in  an  old  frame  over  the 
door.  On  an  adjoining  wall  is  the  following  : 

OFFICE   RULES 

1.  Gentlemen  upon  entering  will  leave  the  door  open  or 

apologise. 

2.  Those  having  no  business  should  remain  as  long  as 

possible,  take  a  chair  and  lean  against  the  wall ; 
it  will  preserve  the  wall  and  prevent  it  falling  upon 
us. 

3.  Gentlemen  are  requested  to  smoke,  especially  during 

office  hours  ;  tobacco  and  segars  of  the  finest  brands 
will  be  supplied  gratis. 

4.  Spit   on    the  floor,    as  the  spittoons  are  only   for 

ornaments. 

5.  TALK  LOUD  or  WHISTLE,  especially  when  we  are 

engaged.     If  this  has  not  the  desired  effect,  SING. 

6.  If  we  are    in  business   conversation  with   anyone, 

gentlemen  are  requested  not  to  wait  until  we  are 
disengaged,  but  join  us,  as  we  are  particularly  fond 
of  speaking  to  half  a  dozen  or  more  at  one  time. 

7.  Profane  language  is  expected  at  all  times,  especially 

if  ladies  are  present. 

8.  Put  your  feet  on  the  table,  or  lean  against  the  desk. 

It  will  be  of  great  assistance  to  those  who  are  writing. 

9.  Persons  having  no  business  to  transact  will  call  often 

or  excuse  themselves. 

10.  Should  anyone  desire  to  borrow  money  do  not  fail 
to  ask  for  it,  as  we  do  not  require  it  for  business 
purposes,  but  merely  for  the  sake  of  lending. 

We  copied  the  following  from  a  placard 
either  in  the  Windmill  at  Hollingbourne,  or 
the  Ten  Bells  at  Leeds,  in  Kent  : 


180  Old   Country  Inns 

GOOD   ADVICE 

Call  Frequently,  Be  Good  Company, 

Drink  Moderately,  Part  Friendly, 

Pay  Honourably,  Go  Home  •  Quietly. 

Let  these  lines  be  no  man's  sorrow,  pay  to-day  and 
trust  to-morrow. 

In  the  General  Wolfe  at  Westerham  : 
THE  LANDLORD'S  PUZZLE' 

More  Shall  Trust 

Score  I  Sent 

for  what  I 

my  And  Have 

Do  Beer  If 

Pay  Clerk  Brewers 

I   "  May  So 

Must  Their  My 


And  at  Groombridge  : 


My  ale  is  good,  my  measure  just, 
And  yet — my  friends,  I  cannot  trust. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

HAUNTED   INNS 

WHY  is  it  that  haunted  inns  are  so  scarce  and 
difficult  to  find  ?  We  have  sought  for  them 
far  and  wide.  During  thirty  years  of  wander- 
ings among  the  old  inns, we  have  retired  for 
the  night  full  oft  into  blackened  oak-lined 
chambers  with  secret  sliding  panels  in  the 
walls,  or  traps  in  the  ceiling,  that  offered 
golden  opportunities  for  any  ghost  of  enter- 
prise ;  rooms  where  heavy  tie-beams  and  dark 
recesses  cast  eerie  shadows  in  the  moonlight ; 
vast  churchlike  dormitories  with  springy 
floors  which  if  one  jumped  out  of  bed  caused 
the  door  incontinently  to  unlatch  and  open 
in  a  distinctly  ghostlike  manner.  But  no 
supernatural  visitor  has  ever  favoured  us.  In 
vain  we  have  tried  the  experiment  of  sleeping 
in  bedchambers  which  the  great  ones  of  the 
earth  have  made  memorable,  from  Queen 
Elizabeth  to  Dick  Turpin.  No  cavalier 
knight  has  ever  tried  to  unburden  his  con- 
science to  us,  no  spectral  dame  has  come  to 
moan  and  wring  her  hands  with  grief,  no 

181 


182  Old   Country    Inns 

clanking  chains  on  the  stairs,  merely  the 
peaceful  dreamless  sleep  of  the  proverbial  top. 
The  learned  in  occult  lore  tell  us  that  the 
astral  body  must  follow  the  habits  of  the 
departed  to  whom  it  once  belonged.  It 
would  therefore  prefer  private  dwellings  to 
the  inns  which  it  merely  occupied  for  a  night 
or  two.  Ghosts  with  a  grievance  would  find 
more  congenial  occupation  in  annoying  sur- 
viving relatives  rather  than  the  passing 
traveller  who  is  not  interested  in  their  con- 
cerns. Well-informed  and  intelligent  spectres, 
of  course  (unless  they  had  some  private  end 
in  view),  steer  clear  of  inns  altogether.  At  the 
baronial  hall,  the  ghost  is  a  cherished  petted 
heirloom ;  the  innkeeper  regards  him  as  a 
nuisance,  driving  away  the  more  timid  class 
of  customers,  and  in  case  of  trouble  might 
call  in  the  parson  to  exorcise  him  with  bell, 
book  and  candle.  Then,  again,  in  the  halcyon 
days  for  the  spooks,  say  a  hundred  years  ago, 
the  traveller  generally  drank  deeply  to  the 
good  of  the  house.  The  spectral  vision  fell 
flat  when  tested  on  an  individual  well 
inoculated  with  spirit  of  a  more  material 
nature.  In  face  of  all  these  discouragements, 
the  ghosts,  as  a  rule,  left  hotels  and  taverns 
unmolested. 


Haunted   Inns  183 


One  exception  is  to  be  found  at  the  Ostrich 
at  Colnbrook,  a  beautiful  old  Elizabethan 
coaching  inn,  retaining  near  the  middle  of  its 
long  half-timbered  and  gabled  front,  above  the 
yard  gate,  the  platform  by  which  "  the 
quality  "  embarked  on  the  coach.  It  is  an 
ideal  place  for  a  ghost  to  take  sanctuary, 
with  many  corridors  and  low-ceilinged 
chambers,  all  lined  through  with  carved 
chestnut  panelling  and  twisted  pilasters. 
There  is  a  Queen's  room,  said  to  have  been 
used  by  Queen  Elizabeth  while  awaiting  the 
repair  of  her  coach  which  had  lost  a  wheel 
crossing  the  ford.  Over  the  mantelpiece  is  her 
coat  of  arms.  But  chief est  of  all  is  the  Blue 
Chamber,  sacred  to  the  memory  of  Dick 
Turpin.  This  ubiquitous  villain,  so  tradition 
states,  once  leaped  from  the  first  floor  window 
and  escaped  into  the  street  when  pressed  by 
the  authorities. 1 

The  ghost  is  also  associated  with  the  Blue 
Chamber.  His  name  in  the  flesh  was  Thomas 
Cole,  and  his  story  is  told  in  a  very  rare  work 
of  Jacobean  date,  published  by  Thowe,  of 
Reading. 

1  Some  of  the  rival  establishments  at  Colnbrook 
contend  that  the  above  honours  belong  to  them,  and  not 
to  the  Ostrich. 

13— (2244) 


184  Old   Country  Inns 

Once  upon  a  time  in  the  reign  of  Henry  I, 
the  Ostrich  was  already  a  flourishing  inn  kept 
by  a  man  and  his  wife  who  were  secretly 
robbers  and  murderers.  When  a  guest  of 
substance  came  along  and  was  considered  a 
suitable  victim,  the  husband  would  remark 
aloud  :  Wife,  I  know  of  a  fat  pig  if  you  want 
one !  "  and  she  would  answer,  "  Well,  put  him 
into  the  pigsty  till  to-morrow."  Then  the 
visitor  was  put  into  the  Blue  Chamber  above 
the  kitchen.  Underneath  the  bed  there  was 
a  trap-door,  so  arranged  that  by  pulling  out 
two  iron  pins  in  the  kitchen  below  the  whole 
fell  down,  and  plunged  the  unfortunate  man 
into  an  immense  iron  brewing-vat  filled  with 
boiling  water.  The  dead  body  was  then 
thrown  into  the  Colne  which  flows  just  behind 
the  house.  If  other  travellers  asked  for  the 
murdered  man  in  the  morning,  they  were 
told  that  he  had  saddled  his  horse  and  ridden 
away  before  dawn.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the 
horse  had  been  saddled  and  taken  away  to  a 
barn,  some  distance  off,  where  the  innkeeper 
cropped  and  branded  it  in  such  a  manner 
that  recognition  was  impossible. 

Thomas  Cole  was  a  Reading  clothier,  rich 
and  thrifty.  He  was  in  the  habit  of  riding  to 
London,  and  sleeping  at  the  Ostrich  on  his 


Haunted  Inns  185 


return  journey,  when  he  usually  carried  a 
considerable  sum  of  money,  the  proceeds  of 
his  sales.  For  a  long  time  Cole  had  been 
marked  out  for  the  cauldron  as  he  usually 
travelled  alone.  After  the  manner  of  most 
sixteenth-century  legends — Arden  of  Faver- 
sham,  for  example — the  murderers  were  on 
several  occasions  balked  of  their  prey  at  the 
last  moment  when  the  guest  had  been  shown 
into  the  Blue  Chamber.  Once  it  was  his 
friends,  Gray  of  Gloucester  and  William  of 
Worcester,  who  also  traded  with  cloth  in 
London,  and  arrived  unexpectedly  late  at 
night.  Another  time  a  tavern  dispute  kept 
the  house  in  commotion  ;  a  third  time  a 
rumour  came  that  his  friend  Thomas  a 
Beckett's  house  in  Chepe  was  on  fire,  and  he 
returned  to  town.  On  another  visit  he  was  so 
ill  that  a  nurse  must  needs  watch  by  his  bedside. 
But  at  last  the  opportunity  came.  Poor 
Thomas  was  full  of  forebodings  of  some 
impending  calamity  all  the  evening.  He 
dictated  his  will  to  the  landlord,  disposing  of 
his  wealth,  half  to  his  only  daughter,  half  to 
his  wife.  His  goodness  failed  to  move  the 
hearts  of  the  greedy  couple,  and  that  night 
the  bolts  were  withdrawn  and  he  was  scalded 
to  death. 


186  Old  Country  Inns 

When  the  innkeeper  had  disposed  of  the 
body  in  the  river,  he  found  that  the  merchant's 
horse  had  broken  loose  and  wandered  out  into 
the  street,  where  he  was  lost  for  the  time  being. 

Next  day,  Cole's  family,  who  were  expecting 
his  return,  were  alarmed  at  his  non-appearance. 
They  sent  his  servants  to  make  inquiries  at 
the  inn.  The  horse  was  found  on  the  road. 
The  servants  were  not  satisfied  with  the 
explanations  given  them,  and  appealed  to  the 
authorities.  On  hearing  this,  the  innkeeper 
lost  courage  and  fled  secretly  away ;  but  his 
wife  was  apprehended  and  confessed  the  truth. 
It  appeared  that  sixty  persons  had  been  done 
away  with  by  means  of  the  falling  floor.  Both 
the  murderers  eventually  suffered  the  extreme 
penalties  of  the  law  of  that  period. 

On  the  credit  of  the  above  story  the  ghost  of 
Thomas  Cole  enjoyed  for  centuries  a  magnifi- 
cent notoriety,  strutting  proudly  at  midnight 
along  the  corridors  and  terrifying  any  unfor- 
tunate occupant  of  the  Blue  Chamber  out  of 
his  wits.  But  the  historical  critic  has  found 
him  out.  There  was  no  cloth  trade  either  in 
Reading,  Gloucester,  or  Worcester,  when 
Henry  I  was  king,  nor  was  Thomas  a  Beckett 
a  friend  of  his,  nor  did  the  Blue  Chamber 
itself  exist,  indeed  there  were  no  beds 


Haunted  Inns  187 


invented  for  ages  afterwards.  Colnbrook  is 
not  so  called  because  "  Cole  was  in  the 
Brook  "  as  was  pretended,  nor  did  the  river 
Colne  receive  that  name  because  Cole  was  in 
it.  If  the  shade  of  Mr.  Cole  has  not  fled  away 
altogether,  it  takes  care  to  hide  its  diminished 
head  in  some  dark  corner  or  cupboard.  For 
at  least  ten  years  this  detected  impostor  has 
not  shown  himself  in  the  Blue  Chamber. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  Ostrich  was  a  hospice 
founded  by  Milo  Crispin  about  1 130,  and  given 
in  trust  to  the  Benedictines  at  Abingdon. 

About  two  hundred  years  ago  the  owners  of 
the  Hind's  Head  at  Bracknell  tried  to  emulate 
the  exploits  of  their  rivals  at  Colnbrook.  One 
winter's  night  a  stout-hearted  farmer  was 
benighted  there  and  spent  a  merry  evening 
round  the  fire  with  some  jovial  companions. 
At  last  a  serving-maid  showed  him  up  to  his 
chamber.  In  a  scared  whisper  she  warned 
him  that  he  had  taken  refuge  with  a  band  of 
villains.  By  the  side  of  the  bedstead  was  a 
trap -door  leading  into  a  deep  well.  He  threw 
the  bed  down  the  trap-door  and  escaped  by 
the  window.  Then  he  roused  the  neighbour- 
hood. The  gang  of  ruffians  were  captured 
and  all  executed  at  Reading.  In  the  well 
were  found  the  bones  of  all  their  victims. 


188  Old  Country  Inns 

The  Hind's  Head  is  a  pleasant  little  inn, 
with  a  fine  old  garden,  and  we  have  slept  in 
the  haunted  room — slept  the  sleep  of  the  just 
undisturbed  by  visitors  of  any  kind.  But  we 
have  hopes  of  the  Hind's  Head,  for  the  present 
occupier  is  a  man  of  taste,  who  believes  that 
behind  the  modern  wainscot  ingle-nooks  and 
other  treasures  of  the  old  time  are  waiting 
to  be  unveiled.  The  trap-door  and  the  well 
are  to  be  seen  in  situ,  and  perhaps  when  the 
old-fashioned  appearance  of  the  interior  is 
restored,  the  ghosts  may  be  induced  to 
return. 

On  the  western  end  of  Exmoor  there  is  an 
old  inn,  the  A  eland  Arms,  which  supernatural 
visitants  have  rendered  uninhabitable.  It 
lies  deserted  and  melancholy,  with  its  ruined 
porch  and  the  broken  walls  of  its  weed -choked 
garden.  The  wraith  of  Farmer  Mole  haunts 
its  precincts.  He  was  returning  from  South 
Molton  market  one  dark  night  on  a  horse 
laden  with  sacks  of  lime.  Many  years 
afterwards  horse  and  man  were  dug 
out  of  the  bog  close  by,  into  which  they 
must  have  wandered  in  the  mist  and  become 
engulfed. 

For  the  tale  of  the  "  Hand  of  Glory  "  we  are 
indebted  to  Mrs.  Katherine  Macquoid,  and 


Haunted  Inns  189 


will  let  it  be  told  in  her  own  words,  with  only 
a  few  abbreviations. l 

The  Spital  Inn  on  Stanmore  in  Yorkshire, 
was,  in  the  year  1797,  a  long  narrow  building 
kept  by  one  George  Alderson.  Its  lower 
storey  was  used  as  stabling,  for  the  stage- 
coaches changed  horses  at  the  inn  ;  the  upper 
part  was  reached  by  a  flight  of  ten  or  twelve 
steps  leading  up  from  the  road  to  a  stout 
oaken  door,  and  the  windows,  deeply  recessed 
in  the  thick  walls,  were  strongly  barred  with 
iron. 

One  stormy  October  night,  while  the  rain 
swept  pitilessly  against  the  windows  and  the 
fierce  gusts  made  the  casements  rattle,  George 
Alderson  and  his  son  sat  over  the  crackling 
log  fire  and  talked  of  their  gains  at  Broughton 
Hill  Fair  ;  these  gains,  representing  a  large 
sum  of  money,  being  safely  stowed  away  in  a 
cupboard  in  the  landlord's  bedroom.  A 
knock  at  the  door  interrupted  them. 

"  Open  t'  door,  lass,"  said  Alderson.  "  Ah 
wadna  keep  a  dog  out  sik  a  neet  as  this." 

"  Eh  !  best  slacken  t*  chain,  lass,"  said  the 
more  cautious  landlady. 

The  girl  went  to  the  door,  but  when  she  saw 
that  the  visitor  was  an  old  woman,  she  bade 

1  "  About  Yorkshire." 


190  Old   Country   Inns 

her  come  in.  There  entered  a  bent  figure 
dressed  in  a  long  cloak  and  hood ;  this  last 
was  drawn  over  her  face  and,  as  she  walked 
feebly  to  the  armchair  which  Alderson  pushed 
forward,  the  rain  streamed  from  her  clothing 
and  made  a  pool  on  the  oaken  floor.  She 
shivered  violently  but  refused  to  take  off  her 
cloak  and  have  it  dried.  She  also  refused  the 
offer  of  food  or  a  bed.  She  said  she  was  on  her 
way  to  the  south,  and  must  start  as  soon  as 
there  was  daylight.  All  she  needed  was  a 
rest  beside  the  fire. 

The  innkeeper  and  his  wife  were  well  used  to 
wayfarers ;  they  soon  said  "  Good-night/' 
and  went  to  bed  ;  so  did  their  son.  Bella,  the 
maid,  was  left  alone  with  the  shivering  old 
woman,  who  gave  but  surly  answers  to  her 
advances,  and  the  girl  fancied  that  the  voice, 
though  low,  was  not  a  woman's.  Presently 
the  wayfarer  stretched  out  her  feet  to  warm 
them,  and  Bella's  quick  eyes  saw  under  the 
hem  of  the  skirt  that  the  stranger  wore  horse- 
man's gaiters.  The  girl  felt  uneasy,  and  in- 
stead of  going  to  bed,  she  resolved  to  stay  up 
and  watch. 

Presently  Bella  lay  down  on  a  long  settle 
beyond  the  range  of  the  firelight  and  watched 
the  stranger  while  she  pretended  to  fall  asleep. 


o 

f 


Haunted   Inns  191 


All  at  once  the  figure  in  the  chair  stirred, 
raised  its  head  and  listened ;  then  it  rose 
slowly  to  its  feet,  no  longer  bent  but  tall  and 
powerful  looking  ;  it  stood  listening  for  some 
time.  There  was  no  sound  but  Bella's  heavy 
breathing,  and  the  wind  and  rain  beating  on  the 
windows.  Then  the  woman  took  from  the 
folds  of  her  cloak  a  brown  withered  human 
hand ;  next  she  produced  a  candle,  lit  it 
from  the  fire,  and  placed  it  in  the  hand. 
Bella's  heart  beat  so  fast  that  she  could  hardly 
keep  up  the  regular  deep  breathing  of  pre- 
tended sleep  ;  but  now  she  saw  the  stranger 
coming  towards  her  with  this  ghastly  chan- 
delier, and  she  closed  her  lids  tightly.  She 
felt  that  the  woman  was  bending  over  her, 
and  that  the  light  was  passed  slowly  before 
her  eyes,  while  these  words  were  muttered 
in  the  strong  masculine  voice  that  had  first 
roused  her  suspicions  : 

"  Let  those  who  rest  more  deeply  sleep ; 
Let  those  awake  their  vigils  keep." 

The  light  moved  away,  and  through  her 
eyelashes  Bella  saw  that  the  woman's  back 
was  turned  to  her,  and  that  she  was  placing 
the  hand  in  the  middle  of  the  long  oak  table, 
while  she  muttered  this  rhyme  : 


192  Old  Country  Inns 

"  O  Hand  of  Glory,  shed  thy  light ; 
Direct  us  to  our  spoil  to-night." 

Then  she  moved  a  few  steps  away  and 
undrew  the  window  curtains.  Coming  back 
to  the  latter  she  said  : 

"  Flash  out  thy  light,  O  skeleton  hand, 
And  guide  the  feet  of  our  trusty  band." 

At  once  the  light  shot  up  a  bright  vivid 
gleam,  and  the  woman  walked  to  the  door ; 
she  took  down  the  bar,  drew  back  the  bolts, 
unfastened  the  chain,  and  Bella  felt  a  keen 
blast  of  cold  night  air  rush  in  as  the  door  was 
flung  open.  She  kept  her  eyes  closed,  how- 
ever, for  the  woman  at  that  moment  looked 
at  her,  and  then  drawing  something  from  her 
gown,  she  blew  a  long  shrill  whistle  ;  she  then 
went  out  at  the  door  and  down  a  few  of  the 
steps,  stopped  and  whistled  again,  but  the 
next  moment  a  vigorous  push  sent  her  spin- 
ning down  the  steps  on  to  the  road  below. 
The  door  was  closed,  barred  and  bolted,  and 
Bella  almost  flew  to  her  master's  bedroom 
and  tried  to  wake  him.  In  vain,  he  and  his 
wife  slept  on,  while  their  snores  sounded 
loudly  through  the  house.  The  girl  felt 
frantic. 

She  then  tried  to  rouse  young  Alderson, 
but  he  slept  as  if  in  a  trance.  Now  a  fierce 


Haunted  Inns  193 


battery  on  the  door  and  cries  below  the 
windows  told  that  the  band  had  arrived. 

A  new  thought  came  to  Bella.  She  ran 
back  to  the  kitchen.  There  was  the  Hand  of 
Glory,  still  burning  with  a  wonderful  light. 
The  girl  caught  up  a  cup  of  milk  that  stood 
on  the  table,  dashed  it  on  the  flame  and 
extinguished  it.  In  one  moment,  as  it  seemed 
to  her,  she  heard  footsteps  coming  from  the 
bedrooms,  and  George  Alderson  and  his  son 
rushed  into  the  room  with  firearms  in  their 
hands.  As  soon  as  the  robbers  heard  the 
landlord's  voice  bidding  them  depart,  they 
summoned  him  to  open  the  door,  and  produce 
his  valuables.  Meanwhile  young  Alderson 
had  opened  the  window,  and  for  answer  he 
fired  his  blunderbuss  down  among  the  men 
below. 

There  was  a  groan — a  fall — then  a  pause, 
and,  as  it  seemed  to  the  besieged,  a  sort  of 
discussion.  Then  a  voice  called  out,  "  Give 
up  the  Hand  of  Glory,  and  we  will  not  harm 
you." 

For  answer  young  Alderson  fired  again  and 
the  party  drew  off.  Seemingly  they  had 
trusted  entirely  to  the  Hand  of  Glory,  or  else 
they  feared  a  long  resistance,  for  no  further 
attack  was  made.  The  withered  hand 


194 


Old  Country   Inns 


remained  in  the  possession  of  the  Aldersons 
for  sixteen  years  after. 

This  story,  concludes  Mrs.  Macquoid,  was 
told  to  my  informant,  Mr.  Atkinson,  by  Bella 
herself  when  she  was  an  old  woman. 


-*&  ?  - .% 

\  — 

The  Ship,  Wingham 


CHAPTER  XIV 

OLD   INNS   AND   THEIR   ARCHITECTURE 

ALTHOUGH  many  of  our  country  inns  must 
in  their  structural  substance  date  from  the 
reigns  of  Edward  III  and  Richard  II,  and 
some,  like  the  Red  Lion  at  Wingham,  and  the 
White  Hart  at  Newark,  possess  features  that 
are  without  doubt  fourteenth-century  work, 
the  earliest  examples  worthy  of  extended 
description  and  classification  date  from  the 
middle  of  the  fifteenth  century.  The  enor- 
mous development  of  trade,  and  the  wealth 
of  the  towns  at  this  period,  occasioned  the 
building  of  hostelries  so  magnificent  in  size  and 
so  well  adapted  for  comfort  that  they  have 
often  served  through  the  strain  and  stress  of 
coaching  days.  Some  of  these  inns  are  well 
worthy  of  being  compared  with  the  grand 
parish  churches  which  the  same  age  has 
bequeathed  to  us. 

Hidden  behind  a  corner  of  the  market- 
place at  Aylesbury  is  the  noble  old  King's 
Head,  presenting  to  a  narrow  turning  its 
broad  mullioned  windows  and  Tudor  entrance 

195 


Old  Inns  and  their  Architecture     197 

gate  way  >  The  interior  has  an  open  spacious 
staircase,  and  a  lofty  tap-room  with  massive 
oak  cornice,  and  moulded  ceiling-ribs  meeting 
in  a  carved  boss.  It  is  lighted  by  a  magnifi- 
cent window,  the  ancient  stained  glass  in  which 
represents  the  arms  of  England  and  France 
quartered,  the  arms  of  Margaret  of  Anjou, 
and  numerous  heraldic  and  ecclesiastical 
symbols.  A  strong  opinion  exists  that  this 
house  was  a  refectory  for  the  Grey  Friars ; 
others  have  suggested  that  it  was  a  hall  of  one 
of  the  town  Guilds,  built  soon  after  the 
marriage  of  Henry  VI,  in  1444.  With  regard 
to  the  glass,  there  is  some  question  whether 
it  was  not  brought  hither  from  some  other 
position,  especially  as  one  of  the  heraldic 
shields  has  been  reversed  during  insertion. 
But  the  whole  apartment  remains  very  much 
in  its  original  state  except  that  the  chimney 
piece  is  ordinary  and  modern. 

The  yard  of  the  old  King's  Head  is  still  a 
busy  picturesque  one  on  market  days,  but  the 
scene  has  lost  a  delightful  background  since 
the  removal  of  the  old  galleries. 

Even  finer  in  its  carvings  and  the  richly- 
moulded  cornice  and  ceiling  beams  is  the  great 
hall  in  the  Bull  at  Long  Melford.  Probably 
this  is  a  little  earlier  in  date  than  the 


198 


Old   Country    Inns 


Aylesbury  house.  Unfortunately,  the  beauty  of 
this  exquisite  hall  is  marred  by  glass  partitions 


Tap-room  at  the  Bull,  Sudbury 

and  modern  wall  decoration  of  an  inferior 
quality.  Three  miles  away  at  Sudbury  there 
is  another  Bull  also  of  Edwardian  date,  full 


Old  Inns  and    their  Architecture     199 

of  quaint  nooks  and  retaining  its  original 
front,  altered  only  by  the  insertion  of  a  few 
eighteenth-century  window  frames.  It  stands 
near  the  site  of  an  old  friary,  but  we  are  in- 
clined to  believe  that  it  owes  its  name,  not  to  a 
monastic  origin,  but  to  the  Black  Bull  of  the 
House  of  Clarence. 

Other  fine  old  inns  of  this  period  are  the 
New  Inn  at  Gloucester,  built  by  Abbot  Sea- 
brook  from  the  designs  of  John  Twyning,  a 
monk  ;  the  Sun  at  Peering  in  Essex,  formerly 
a  manor-house  ;  and  the  George  at  Glaston- 
bury,  unique  in  the  possession  of  its  original 
stone  front,  bold  oriels  and  richly-traceried 
windows.  The  Crown  at  Shipton-under- 
Wychwood  has  a  fine  archway  in  the  Per- 
pendicular style  and  also  some  mullioned 
windows. 

Nearer  London  is  the  White  Hart  at  Brent- 
wood.  "  There  are  few  hostelries  in  Eng- 
land/' says  Albert  Smith,  "into  which  a 
traveller  would  sooner  turn  for  entertainment 
for  himself  and  animal  than  that  of  the 
White  Hart,  whose  effigy  looks  placidly  along 
the  principal  street  from  his  lofty  bracket, 
secured  thereto  by  a  costly  gilt  chain,  which 
assuredly  prevents  him  from  jumping  down 
and  plunging  into  the  leafy  glades  and 

14— <*»44) 


200  Old  Country    Inns 

coverts  within  view.  And  when  you  enter  the 
great  gate,  there  is  a  friendly  look  in  the  old 
carved  gallery  running  above  the  yard,  which 
speaks  of  comfort  and  hospitality  ;  you  think 
at  once  of  quiet  chambers  ;  beds  into  which 
you  dive,  and  sink  at  least  three  feet  down, 
for  their  very  softness  ;  with  sweet,  clean, 
country  furniture,  redolent  of  lavender.  The 
pantry,  too,  is  a  thing  to  see,  not  so  much 
for  the  promise  of  refection  which  it  discloses, 
as  for  its  blue  Dutch  tiles,  with  landscapes 
thereon,  where  gentlemen  of  meditative 
minds,  something  between  Quakers  and 
British  yeomen,  are  walking  about  in  wonder- 
ful coats,  or  fishing  in  troubled  waters  ;  all 
looking  as  if  they  were  very  near  connections 
of  the  celebrated  pedestrian,  Christian,  as  he 
appeared  in  the  old  editions  of  *  The  Pilgrim's 
Progress.'"  And  the  White  Hart  at  Brent- 
wood  remains  a  treasure  among  old  inns, 
although  fate  has  not  been  kind  to  it  during 
the  sixty  years  since  little  Fred  Scattersgood 
found  shelter  there  when  running  away  from 
persecution  at  Merchant  Taylors'  School. 
Depressed  Tudor  arches,  framed  in  dark  oak, 
open  into  each  of  its  two  great  yards,  and  an 
early  Tudor  arcading  forms  the  front  of  the 
gallery,  a  retreat  from  which  the  fair  dames  of 


The  Kings  Head,"  Loughton,  Essex 


Old  Inns  and   their   Architecture    201 

Brentwood  were  wont  to  watch  the  cock- 
fightings.  Just  inside  the  principal  entrance 
will  be  found  some  excellent  renaissance 
woodwork. 

At  Alfriston,  in  Sussex,  is  the  Star  Inn, 
small  in  size,  but  of  the  highest  interest.  On 
brackets  on  each  side  of  the  doorway  are 
mitred  figures  of  St.  Giles  with  a  hind  and  St. 
Julian,  the  patrons  of  weary  wayfarers.  A 
beam  in  the  parlour  is  ornamented  with  a 
shield  and  the  sacred  monogram,  and  all 
kinds  of  curious  carvings  abound  in  the  build- 
ing. In  the  dining-room  upstairs,  suggestive 
of  an  old  ship's  cabin,  the  solid  construction 
of  the  fine  old  roof  may  be  studied.  For  four 
centuries  it  has  borne  its  coverings  of  thick 
Horsham  stone  slabs  without  shifting,  and 
seems  sound  enough  to  resist  time  for  a  long 
period  to  come.  Antiquarians  have  supposed 
this  inn  to  have  been  erected  as  a  pilgrim's 
hostel,  but  it  seems  scarcely  probable  that 
voyagers,  even  if  they  landed  at  Seaford, 
would  take  this  route  either  to  Canterbury 
or  Chichester.  It  belonged  to  the  Abbey  of 
Battle,  and  the  many  ecclesiastical  carvings 
may  be  ascribed  to  the  monkish  craftsmen. 
Just  above  a  facetious,  smiling  lion  thickly 
bedaubed  with  red  paint,  and  evidently  the 


202  Old   Country  Inns 

figure-head  of  a  ship  stranded  on  this  danger- 
ous coast,  is  the  carver's  mark  showing  the 
date  of  the  building.  A  rude  heraldic  design 
on  the  angle  bracket,  represents  a  coronetted 
ragged  staff  supported  by  a  bear  and  a  lion 
with  a  twisted  tail.  In  1495,  Edmund  Dud- 
ley married  Elizabeth  Grey,  last  heiress  of 
Warwick  the  "  King-maker."  The  union  of 
the  Green  Lion  with  the  Bear  and  Ragged 
Staff  was  a  great  event  for  the  Sussex  people. 
Edmund  Dudley  was  brought  up  at  Lewes 
Priory,  and  the  hillfolk  were  proud  of  his 
success  in  becoming  the  chief  minister  of  his 
time. 

The  Maid's  Head  at  Norwich,  so  far  as  the 
older  part  of  this  excellent  house  is  concerned, 
is  chiefly  Elizabethan  and  early  Jacobean  ; 
thanks  to  the  careful  restoration  and  the 
valuable  collection  of  old  furniture  intro- 
duced by  Mr.  Walter  Rye,  much  of  the  interior 
helps  us  to  realise  what  an  old  inn  looked 
like  tWo  or  three  centuries  ago.  But  the 
Maid's  Head  has  a  more  ancient  history,  and 
can  boast  of  a  Norman  cellar  (a  relic  of  the 
Bishop's  Palace),  while  in  the  drawing-room, 
a  real  fifteenth-century  fireplace,  discovered 
in  the  thickness  of  the  wall,  has  been  opened 
up  and  correctly  fitted  with  dogs  and  hood. 


I 


204  Old  Country   Inns 

The  panelled  billiard-room,  cosy  Jacobean 
bar,  and  the  music  gallery  in  the  assembly 
room  (like  the  "  Elevated  Den  "  in  the  Bull 
at  Rochester),  are  all  delightful.  The  only 
fault  we  can  find  at  the  Maid's  Head  is  that 
the  old  inn-yard,  now  converted  into  a  lounge, 
has  been  roofed  in  with  glass  at  too  low  a 
level.  A  much  better  effect  would  have  been 
attained  by  introducing  the  glazed  protection 
high  above  the  galleries,  as  has  been 
done  in  the  yard  of  the  Rose  and  Crown  at 
Sudbury. 

Another  Elizabethan  inn  of  note  is  the  Star 
at  Great  Yarmouth,  built  by  a  local  merchant, 
William  Crowe,  at  the  end  of  the  sixteenth 
century.  Here  the  Nelson  Room,  so  called 
from  a  famous  portrait  of  Lord  Nelson,  is 
beautifully  panelled  in  dark  oak.  When  the 
match-boarding  was  torn  down  for  repairs 
about  forty  years  ago  the  original  fireplace  and 
chimney-piece  were  discovered  and  restored. 
Over  the  mantel  are  the  arms  of  the  Merchant 
Adventurers  who  received  their  charters  from 
Queen  Elizabeth. 

The  exact  date  of  the  Feathers  at  Ludlow 
is  not  very  easy  to  determine,  but  it  must 
have  existed  before  1609,  when  Rees  Jones 
took  a  lease  of  the  premises  ;  and  the  initials 


Old  Inns   and    their  Architecture    205 

11  R.  I."  on  the  lockplate  probably  refer  to 
him.  The  splendid  carved  front  with  a  gallery 
of  spiral  balusters,  the  studded  door,  elaborate 
ceilings,  fireplaces  and  panelling  are,  of  course, 
well  known  to  all  students,  and  illustrated  in 
every  collection.  In  1616,  there  was  a  cele- 
bration in  Ludlow  of  "  The  Love  of  Wales 
to  their  Sovereign  Prince  "  ;  and  from  this 
event  the  inn  must  have  received  its  name. 
It  is  the  finest  of  all  the  Magpie  half-timbered 
inns  of  Cheshire,  Herefordshire,  and  Shropshire. 
By  the  time  these  lines  are  in  print  the 
famous  "  Globe  Room  "  at  the  Reindeer  at 
Banbury  will  have  been  exported  to  America, 
but  a  replica  in  all  respects  is  to  be  erected  in 
its  place.  A  copy  of  the  ceiling  is  already  at 
the  South  Kensington  Museum. 

Many  of  the  great  coaching  inns  of  the 
Queen  Anne  and  Georgian  eras  are  not  lacking 
in  good  proportion  and  correct  classic  detail. 
But  they  lack  the  individuality  of  the  very 
old  inns,  and  a  long  description  of  them  would 
interest  only  the  purely  architectural  stuentd. 
The  artist  will  find  effects  of  colour  and  light- 
ing in  the  mouldering  brick  cornices  at  Godal- 
ming  or  Sittingbourne.  The  old  ballrooms 
in  county  towns,  now  deserted  for  the  modern 
Town  Hall,  and  made  to  do  duty  as  store 


206  Old   Country    Inns 

rooms,  are  always  worth  peeping  into  ;  and 
little  survivals  of  our  forefathers'  habits  of 
life  are  to  be  detected  in  the  broad  staircases 
and  deep  easy  window  seats.  Hotel  archi- 
tecture continued  to  follow  the  fashion,  and 
even  the  Greek  revival  early  in  the  last  century 
and  the  later  Italian  revival  had  their  influence. 

Some  very  curious  examples  of  the  Sir 
Charles  Barry  period  are  to  be  noted  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  Crystal  Palace.  Fifty 
years  of  wear  might  make  us  forgive  some  of 
their  eccentricities.  Among  these,  one  of  the 
best  from  the  architectural  point  of  view,  is 
the  little  Goat  House  Hotel  in  South  Norwood, 
so  named  from  a  famous  goat-breeding 
establishment  which  existed  on  an  island  of 
the  Croydon  Canal.  The  portico,  cluster  of 
narrow  round-headed  windows  and  slender 
Lombardic  tower  of  this  building  are  not  bad, 
albeit  hopelessly  exotic.  At  least  they  show 
an  attempt  at  artistic  purpose  during  the  years 
when  public-house  design  was  generally 
mechanical  and  sordid. 

For  the  very  queerest  adaptation  by  a 
local  builder  of  the  style  in  vogue  during  the 
Greek  revival,  a  visit  must  be  paid  to  the 
Lisle  Castle,  on  the  Dover  Road,  about  three 
miles  beyond  Gravesend. 


208  Old   Country    Inns 

Old  wayside  inns,  as  a  rule,  have  few  archi- 
tectural pretensions  ;  good  sound  proportion, 
breadth  of  roof,  bold  chimney  breasts,  and  age 
together  suffice  to  make  them  attractive  and 
dignified.  Internally  the  tap-rooms  are  often 
panelled,  and  the  ceilings  crossed  by  many 
smoke -stained  beams  ;  with  here  and  there 
a  welcome  chimney-corner.  Ingle-nooks  and 
chimney-corners  are  still  fairly  numerous  even 
in  the  home  counties.  Surrey  can  boast  of  a 
good  half-dozen  ;  The  Plough  at  Smallfield, 
near  Red  Hill,  the  Crown  at  Chiddingfold, 
the  White  Lion  at  Warlingham,  may  be  given 
as  instances — while  there  are  more  than  one 
in  that  fine  old  Elizabethan  inn,  the  Clayton 
Arms,  formerly  the  White  Hart  at  Godstone. 
Leaves  Green  and  Groombridge  own  two  out 
of  the  many  scattered  about  Kent.  In 
Sussex  they  are  too  common  to  require  special 
notice. 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE   COMMERCIAL  TRAVELLER 

THE  genuine  traveller  is  really  the  man  who 
is  on  business.  Even  the  tourist  can  scarcely 
lay  confident  claim  to  the  title.  Is  he  not  on 
pleasure  bent  ?  Is  he  not  going  from  place  to 
place  merely  for  the  fun  of  the  thing  ?  Is  he 
not  really  a  stay-at-home  who  has  ventured 
out  merely  to  stretch  his  legs  ?  Ask  the 
keeper  of  a  commercial  hotel  in  a  country 
town  who  his  customers  are.  He  will  tell  you 
that  they  are  commercial  travellers  and  coffee- 
room  visitors.  The  two  classes  are  distinct 
in  the  mind  of  mine  host.  One  suggests 
work,  the  other  play.  The  commercial  man 
is  bound  to  travel  whether  he  likes  it  or  not, 
the  visitor  is  a  fitful  amateur  amusing 
himself  by  a  change  from  the  monotony 
of  home. 

Whoso  looks  upon  the  commercial  traveller 
as  a  modern  production  created  by  the  railway 
system  should  listen  to  the  explosion  of  wrath 
from  an  old  hand  on  the  road,  who  has  had 
time  and  inclination  to  examine  into  the 

209 


210  Old  Country    Inns 

history  of  commerce.  "  What,  no  traditions !  " 
he  will  exclaim.  "  Permit  me  to  call  your 
attention  once  more,  my  friend,  to  the  parable 
of  the  Good  Samaritan.  Who  was  he,  I 
I  should  like  to  know,  but  a  commercial 
traveller  ?  Everything  points  to  it.  He  was 
travelling  in  oil  and  wine,  why  else  should 
he  have  had  them  with  him  ?  Notice  his 
influence  with  the  host  of  the  inn.  He  was 
evidently  known  there.  He  could  give  in- 
structions and  had  enough  ready  money  to 
leave  two  denarii  on  his  departure,  with  a 
reminder  that  he  would  be  coming  again  later 
on.  Then,  again,  his  broad-minded  sympathy, 
he  was  certainly  no  sectarian.  Commercial 
travellers  rarely  are.  Their  calling  teaches 
them  to  be  friendly  to  all  sorts  and  conditions 
of  men.  No  traditions  ?  History  is  full  of 
incidents  which  show  that  the  man  who 
travels  with  samples  is  as  old  as  the 
hills." 

During  the  eighteenth  and  early  nine- 
teenth century  it  was  the  bagman  who  used 
the  inn.  Not  a  term  of  opprobrium  this  by 
any  means.  Think  of  the  immediate  fore- 
runner of  the  present-day  commercial,  sitting 
astride  a  sturdy  horse  with  a  well-stocked  bag 
on  each  side,  facing  all  weathers,  negotiating 


The  Commercial    Traveller          211 

all  roads,  and  making  a  journey  of  a  month 
or  two  at  a  time.  Not  an  altogether  despicable 
figure  this.  There  would  be  nothing 
squeamish  about  his  methods,  perhaps ; 
but  he  would  be  equally  welcome  to  his 
customers  and  mine  host  as  a  carrier  of  news 
or  a  purveyor  of  goods.  He  travelled  horse- 
back because  the  roads  he  had  to  go  over 
were  not  always  suitable  for  vehicles.  It 
was  not  till  Macadam  that  the  light  spring- 
cart  became  an  essential  part  of  his 
equipment. 

Long  after  the  commencement  of  railways 
the  commercial  traveller  was  known  as  a 
bagman.  The  Daily  Telegraphy  in  the  year 
1865,  seemed  in  doubt  as  to  whether  its 
readers  would  recognize  the  more  modern 
name  without  some  explanation,  for  it  refers 
to  "  a  traveller — I  mean  a  bagman,  not  a 
tourist — arriving  with  his  samples  at  a  pro- 
vincial town."  At  that  time,  of  course, 
commercial  travellers  were  increasing  in  num- 
bers ;  but  inasmuch  as  railways  only  con- 
nected up  towns  on  certain  routes,  the  light 
cart  was  used  constantly  to  go  the  round  of 
outlying  districts.  Indeed,  to-day,  there  are 
commercial  travellers  who  still  use  the  older 
method  of  progress  for  work  in  parts  of 


212  Old    Country  Inns 

counties  where  railway  communication  is  poor 
and  the  service  of  trains  intermittent.  The 
motor-car  is  also  an  occasional  means  of 
conveyance  for  travellers.  When  first  it  was 
so  used,  tradesmen  looked  askance  at  it  as 
being  likely  to  frighten  the  horses  of  carriage 
customers. 

The  country  inn  began  to  cater  specially 
for  business  men  early  in  the  nineteenth 
century,  and  the  establishment  of  the  com- 
mercial room  was  the  ultimate  result  of  the 
special  accommodation  which  innkeepers 
offered  to  travellers. 

Let  no  unwary  casual  visitor,  even  to-day, 
imagine  that  all  rooms  except  the  bedchambers 
of  an  inn  in  a  country  town  are  open  to  him. 
The  commercial  room  is  a  private  apartment 
reserved  for  privileged  representatives  of 
business  concerns.  A  ritual  has  grown  up 
which  is  strictly  observed  by  those  whose  right 
it  is  to  make  use  of  its  many  conveniences. 
Notice  the  formality  of  greeting  which  a  late 
comer  extends  to  the  president  of  the  table 
at  the  one  o'clock  dinner.  "  Mr.  President, 
may  I  be  permitted  to  join  you  ?  "  or  "  Mr. 
President,  may  I  have  the  honour  of  joining 
this  company  ?  "  "  With  pleasure,  sir/'  The 
head  of  the  table  invites  the  company  to  join 


The  Commercial    Traveller          213 

him  at  wine.  "  Well,  gentlemen,  what  do  you 
say  to  a  bottle  of  sherry  to  begin  with  ?  " 
And  later  on — "  Now  gentlemen,  suppose  we 
have  a  bottle  of  port."  Here  is  indicated  a 
spaciousness  of  life,  a  dignity  and  ease  which 
the  rapid  pushful  customs  of  to-day  are  hust- 
ling into  the  past.  But  although  the  long 
wine  dinners  in  the  commercial  room,  where 
every  traveller  was  considered  good  for  at 
least  a  pint,  are  almost  over,  the  ceremonial  is 
still  to  a  great  extent  kept  up.  At  one  time 
not  so  long  ago,  a  diner  paid  for  his  share 
of  the  wine  consumed  whether  he  drank  it  or 
not ;  but  the  spread  of  teetotalism,  the 
establishment  of  Temperance  Hotels  and  the 
gradual  curtailment  of  the  time  spent  on 
dinner,  as  well  as  the  keen  competition  which 
compelled  every  man  on  the  road  to  make  as 
much  of  the  afternoon  as  he  did  of  the  morning, 
led  to  a  freer  personal  liberty  in  the  con- 
sumption of  and  payment  for  liquor.  Now- 
adays, a  commercial  traveller  orders  and  pays 
for  what  he  likes.  There  is  a  generally 
understood  rule  that  the  traveller  longest 
in  the  hotel  shall  officiate  as  president,  and 
should  an  entirely  fresh  set  of  arrivals  enter 
the  commercial  room  at  dinner-time,  the  first 
to  come  in  takes  the  head  of  the  table  as 


214  Old    Country  Inns 

president ,  or  chairman,  as  he  is  more  commonly 
called  to-day.  The  custom  of  toasting  the 
Sovereign  at  dinner,  at  one  time  common, 
has  now  fallen  into  disuse.  In  places  where 
the  Sunday  commercial  dinner  is  still  an 
institution — return  tickets  on  the  railways  at 
a  single  fare,  and  express  trains  have  largely 
done  away  with  it — the  old  time  formalities 
are  still  kept  up,  for  Sunday  is  a  day  which 
admits  of  plenty  of  leisure  and  opportunity  for 
ceremonial.  Grace  used  to  be  pronounced  by 
the  president,  and  a  story  goes  that  on  one 
occasion — perchance  on  many  subsequent 
occasions — at  a  suggestion  from  one  of  the 
diners  that  Mr.  President  should  "  now 
say  grace/'  the  head  of  the  table  arose 
and  inquired,  "  Is  there  a  clergyman 
present  ?  No  ?  Thank  God/'  and  resumed 
his  seat. 

One  good  custom  which  still  survives  and 
is  likely  to  do  so,  is  the  penny  collection  in  the 
Commercial  Room  for  the  Commercial 
Travellers'  Schools  and  the  Commercial 
Travellers'  Benevolent  Association.  This  col- 
lection is  taken  daily  at  every  dinner  in  the 
commercial  room  all  over  the  country,  and 
it  is  largely  from  the  proceeds  that  these 
institutions  are  supported.  A  sidelight  on 


The   Commercial    Traveller          215 

custom  may  be  observed  in  the  fact  that  in 
many  hotels  now  the  collection  is  taken  at 
breakfast  to  ensure  every  traveller  being 
present.  The  midday  dinner  became  less 
well  attended,  and  this  led  to  a  serious 
diminution  in  the  receipts  when  once  travellers 
began  to  use  restaurants  and  take  advantage 
of  local  travelling  facilities  to  visit  customers 
at  some  distance  from  headquarters.  It  is 
common  for  the  landlord  of  the  inn  to  take 
charge  of  the  money  collected.  The  president 
of  the  table  enters  the  amount,  divided  into 
equal  portions  into  two  books  and  fixes  his 
initials,  the  proprietor  of  the  establishment, 
on  the  annual  remittance  to  the  Association, 
receiving  a  votes  allotment  which  can  be 
utilized  on  behalf  of  any  applicants  for  the 
privileges  of  the  two  philanthropic  bodies. 

No  one  is  permitted  to  smoke  in  the  com- 
mercial room  until  after  9  p.m.,  a  rule  which 
is  observed  far  more  strictly  than  those 
unacquainted  by  actual  experience  with  the 
traveller's  life  might  think.  The  custom  of 
using  slippers  of  the  inn,  which  indispens- 
able "  Boots  "  keeps  often  at  his  own  expense, 
is  peculiar  to  the  commercial  room,  though 
many  travellers  now  carry  their  own  foot 
wear  for  the  fireside  with  them.  At  the 

15— (2244) 


216  Old  Country    Inns 

Red  Horse, l  Stratford-on-Avon,  "  Boots  "  is 
credited  with  having  as  fine  a  selection  of 
comfortable  slippers  as  is  to  be  found  in  the 
kingdom. 

Convenience  for  those  who  use  the  room  led 
to  the  provision  of  a  big  table  in  the  centre, 
with  small  writing-tables  round  the  walls. 
In  old  inns  this  simple  method  of  furnishing 
is  still  retained  ;  but  more  pretentious  estab- 
lishments now  have  a  separate  writing-room. 
Upon  the  landlord  rests  the  responsibility  of 
providing  many  small  details  in  equipment, 
such  as  books  of  reference,  time-tables,  ink- 
stands, paper  and  pens.  At  the  Old  Steyne 
Hotel,  Brighton,  the  landlord — himself  an  old 
Commercial — even  goes  to  the  length  of  pro- 
viding an  open  box  of  penny  and  halfpenny 
stamps  which  travellers  may  take  from  as  they 
will,  paying  for  what  they  use  by  placing  the 
money  in  another  box  which  stands  close  by. 
Probably  in  no  other  room  of  an  inn  could  such 
a  convenience  be  extended  without  abuse.  At 

1  Larwood  and  Hotten,  in  "  The  History  of  Sign- 
boards," state  that  the  sign  of  the  Red  Horse  in  their  day 
was  almost  extinct.  Longfellow's  description  of  "  The 
Wayside  Inn  "  contains  the  lines : 

"  And  half  effaced  by  rain  and  shine, 
The  red  horse  prances  on  the  sign." 


The   Commercial    Traveller          217 

the  same  hotel  a  special  stand  of  well-selected 
canes  is  always  kept  for  travellers  who  may 
wish  to  use  them  in  their  walks  of  relaxation 
on  the  front. 

Beyond  these  small  matters  of  detail  of 
equipment  the  commercial  room  has  little 
of  interest.  Hear  the  description  of  the 
author  of  "  The  Ambassadors  of  Commerce/' 
who  prefaces  what  he  has  to  say  with  the 
remark  that  "  the  cosiness  and  comfort  of 
the  commercial  room  in  the  old -fashioned  hotel 
are  by  no  means  due  to  its  architectural  form, 
its  size,  ventilation,  or  adaptation  to  its 
special  purposes — most  of  them  having  none 
of  these  requisites — but  to  its  association/1 

etc "  The  room  it  self  is  not  hung 

with  choice  works  of  art  in  either  oil  or  water 
colours/'  We  seem,  by  the  way,  to  have  seen 
many  a  terrible  old  oleograph.  "  The  pro- 
prietor being  more  desirous  of  advertising 
noted  whiskys  and  popular  bitter  ales,  he 
covers  his  walls  with  framed  advertisements 
of  these  beverages.  These,  with  a  coloured 
print  of  the  Commercial  Travellers'  Schools 
at  Pinner,  and  a  notice  of  the  dinner  hour, 
complete  the  picture.  Add  to  the  same  a 
dozen  or  more  half-dried  overcoats,  mackin- 
toshes, whips,  rugs,  hats  of  all  conceivable 


218  Old  Country    Inns 

shapes,  and  you  have  some  idea  of  the  orna- 
mentations and  fine  art  decoration  of  an  old- 
fashioned  commercial  room/1  Not  an  alto- 
gether unattractive  picture  either.  It  smacks 
of  the  old  mid- Victorian  times  when  mahogany 
and  horsehair  were  the  chief  stock  in  trade  of 
the  furnisher.  A  day  may  come  when  this 
much  abused  combination  of  woodwork  and 
upholstery  will  be  sought  after.  Stranger 
things  have  happened.  Mahogany  and  horse- 
hair chairs  and  sofas  are  rapidly  approaching 
that  age  limit  beyond  which  they  will  certainly 
become  interesting,  and  one  can  see  in 
imagination  the  advertisements  of  the  second- 
hand dealers  who  will  describe  them  as 
"  genuinely  old/'  In  that  day  many  an  old 
commercial  room  will  be  made  to  yield  up 
its  treasures  to  the  insatiable  greed  of  collec- 
tors. It  is  not  uncommon,  however,  to  find 
odd  pieces  of  eighteenth-century  furniture 
in  the  travellers'  room  to-day.  We  have 
come  across  several  old  sideboards  which 
were  obviously  of  not  later  date  than 
Sheraton's  time,  though  in  all  probability  the 
famous  cabinet-maker  had  but  little  to  do 
with  their  origin. 

It  is  the  experience  of  most  commercial 
travellers   that  the   temperance    hotel,  quite 


The   Commercial    Traveller          219 

apart  from  the  fact  that  it  supplies  no  alcoholic 
liquors,  is  only  very  rarely  comparable  to  the 
fully-licensed  house.  Tradition  may  have 
something  to  do  with  the  comfort  of  the  old 
inn,  and  temperance  hotels  have  no  tradi- 
tions whatever.  Their  inception  was  due  to  a 
protest,  and  even  to-day,  with  the  temperance 
movement  so  well  understood  and  appreciated, 
the  "  hotels  "  which  advertise  themselves  as 
being  dogmatically  averse  to  a  particular 
form  of  refreshment,  more  often  than  not 
seem  unable  adequately  to  provide  comforts 
about  which  there  can  be  no  question  what- 
ever. We  have  known  many  temperance 
hotels  which  began  with  a  flourish  of  trumpets 
and  a  long  list  of  influential  patrons ;  a  few 
years  later  they  had  become  slovenly,  dis- 
reputable, and  even  in  one  or  two  cases, 
immoral.  An  inn  may  have  peculiarities,  it 
may  have  character  through  history  and 
old  associations,  but  one  thing  it  should 
certainly  never  possess,  and  that  is  a  narrow 
shibboleth. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE   NEW   INN   AND   ITS   POSSIBILITIES 

WHATEVER  developments  may  be  in  store  in 
the  future  will  depend  almost  entirely  as  to 
how  far  the  licensing  authorities  and  the 
various  bodies  formed  for  the  purpose  of 
furthering  the  cause  of  temperance,  to  say 
nothing  of  trade  protection  societies,  can 
sink  their  differences  and  come  to  some  sort 
of  understanding  as  to  the  best  type  of  inn 
for  public  convenience.  Some  temperance 
reformers  have  dreamt  of  a  land  without 
public -houses,  and  even  to-day  it  is  not  at  all 
uncommon  to  hear  a  lecturer  in  his  enthusiasm 
for  the  cause  of  total  abstinence  express 
the  wish  that  every  drop  of  intoxicating  liquor 
in  the  country  could  be  run  into  the  sewers 
to-morrow,  and  every  public -house  at  the  same 
time  have  its  shutters  put  up.  Of  course 
such  a  dream  is  impossible  of  fulfilment,  and 
by  far  the  bulk  of  English  people  are  heartily 
glad  it  is  so.  On  the  other  hand,  there  is  a 
small  body  of  opinion  which  thinks  that  public - 
house  licences  should  be  dispensed  with 

220 


The  New  Inn    and   Its  Possibilities   221 

altogether,  that  anybody  should  be  permitted 
to  sell  intoxicating  spirits  if  he  thinks  fit,  and 
that  the  removal  of  restriction  would  tend 
towards  temperance.  This  also  is  a  condition 
of  things  which  is  not  in  the  range  of  practical 
politics. 

What,  however,  does  seem  a  hopeful  possi- 
bility is  that  a  middle  course  should  become 
more  generally  accepted  in  the  direction  of 
improvement  of  public-houses  and  their 
conduct,  not  for  the  sake  of  "  the  trade  "  on 
the  one  hand,  nor  for  the  temperance  societies 
on  the  other,  but  for  the  benefit  of  the  public. 
On  the  whole,  the  number  of  people,  even  in 
the  temperance  ranks,  who  look  upon  the 
public-house  as  of  the  devil,  to  be  destroyed 
wherever  possible,  is  very  small,  and  it  is 
also  fair  to  say  that  among  publicans  the 
attitude  of  mind  which  regards  the  possession 
of  a  licence  as  merely  permission  to  sell  as 
much  intoxicating  liquor  as  possible  is  becom- 
ing rarer  every  day.  The  trade  has  been 
forced,  not  without  some  grumbling,  to  re- 
cognize tea  as  a  form  of  liquid  refreshment 
which  may  legitimately  be  called  for  by  the 
traveller  ;  and  although  there  are  still,  in 
out  of  the  way  country  districts,  wayside  inns 
where  the  kettle  never  seems  to  boil,  and, 


222  Old   Country  Inns 

according  to  the  veracious  landlord,  no  fire 
is  ever  kept  up  in  the  afternoon,  it  is  usually 
easy  to  obtain  tea  on  demand  in  most  licensed 
houses.  What  has  led  to  this  no  doubt  is 
the  discovery  that  tea  may  be  provided  at 
a  profit. 

Of  late  years  traffic  on  the  turnpike  road 
has  become  thicker  and  thicker.  But  the 
travellers  of  to-day  are  not  those  of  a  hundred 
or  even  fifty  years  ago,  any  more  than  they 
are  the  pilgrims  of  the  thirteenth  century. 
No  use  offering  them  strong  ale  for  breakfast 
or  rum  punch  at  every  halt.  As  well  might 
one  hawk  the  metal  charms  which  found  such 
ready  sale  seven  hundred  years  ago  on  the 
great  roads  to  holy  shrines.  The  modern 
pilgrim  comes  on  motor-car  and  bicycle  and 
the  relic  of  his  trip  is  the  nimble  picture  post- 
card. Of  course,  one  must  not  forget  that 
the  country  inn  is  not  entirely  kept  up  as  a 
convenience  to  travellers.  It  must  minister 
besides  to  the  permanent  residents  of  the 
neighbourhood.  The  regular  customer  must 
be  studied,  and  he  has  the  comforts  of  home 
near  by.  He  does  not  appear  to  want  them 
in  the  bar  of  the  Blue  Lion  or  George  the 
Fourth.  Sufficient  for  him  if  he  find  civility 
and  an  opportunity  of  discussing  a  tankard  of 


The  New  Inn    and  its  Possibilities    223 

ale  and  a  pipe  in  company  with  his  friends. 
But  for  all  that,  travellers  continue  to 
increase  and  the  faster  they  go  the  quicker 
they  come. 

A  motorist  or  cyclist  thinks  nothing  of  an 
extra  mile  or  two  in  search  of  good  cheer. 
This  is  a  point  which  may  well  be  commended 
to  landlords  of  inns  which  are  not  in  the 
direct  line  of  traffic.  The  number  of  people, 
too,  who  take  a  positive  pleasure  in  going  out 
of  their  way  to  search  for  unfrequented 
hostelries  is  on  the  increase.  Motor-cars 
have  to  a  great  extent  driven  cyclists  on  to 
the  by-roads,  and  in  planning  a  tour  the  rider 
of  the  humbler  machine  will  take  any  amount 
of  trouble  to  avoid  main  roads  in  his  anxiety 
to  avoid  dust  and  obtain  peace  and  quiet- 
ness. This  tends  to  increase  the  popularity 
of  half-forgotten  inns  in  remoter  districts. 
Where  a  generation  ago  the  advent  of  a 
traveller  from  a  distance  was  an  event  to 
be  remembered,  nowadays  the  ubiquitous 
motorist  and  cyclist  may  turn  up  any 
moment.  It  is  to  the  interest,  therefore,  of 
rural  innkeepers  to  study  him. 

Another  fact  to  be  remembered,  is  the 
increase  in  the  number  of  lady  travellers  on 
the  roads,  and  ladies  quite  rightly  will  not 


224  Old    Country  Inns 

stand  any  sort  of  makeshift  accommodation. 
Where  a  man  will  thankfully  accept  his  pot 
of  beer  and  bread  and  cheese  in  an  evil 
smelling  bar  parlour,  a  woman  will  prefer  to 
sit  under  a  tree  outside  and  do  without  re- 
freshment until  it  can  be  obtained  in  reason- 
able cleanliness  and  comfort.  Women,  as  a 
rule,  travel  under  the  protection  of  men,  and 
depend  upon  their  escort  for  the  discovery 
of  nice  places  in  which  to  take  meals.  Men, 
therefore,  have  to  find  them,  and  many  a 
little  inn  which  might  profit  by  frequent 
parties  of  both  sexes  is  passed  by  in  favour 
of  a  more  pretentious  establishment  further 
on,  not  because  the  accommodation  is  not 
extensive  and  elaborate  at  the  smaller  place, 
but  because  of  lack  of  cleanliness,  plain 
reasonable  fare,  and  some  attention  to  the 
amenities  of  life. 

Quite  a  small  thing  will  turn  a  lady  traveller 
against  a  wayside  inn.  Those  horrible,  nar- 
row swing  doors,  which  are  only  too  common, 
are  quite  enough  to  make  a  woman  decide 
against  the  inn  which  is  so  unfortunate  as  to 
have  them  barring  the  only  entrance.  No 
man  ever  pushed  through  such  doors  with 
dignity,  and  a  woman  feels  instinctively  that 
to  struggle  with  them  involves  almost  a  loss 


The  New  Inn  and  its    Possibilities     225 

of  self-respect.  A  woman  likes  to  enter  a 
house.  She  does  not  like  to  slip  in  furtively, 
and  she  feels,  perhaps  unconsciously,  that  there 
is  a  hint  of  the  surreptitious  in  these  doors 
in  the  way  they  open  just  wide  enough  on 
pressure  and  close  again  immediately  as  if 
to  hide  a  misdemeanour.  No  woman,  either, 
will  stand  and  drink  even  the  mildest  of  non- 
alcoholic liquors  if  she  can  possibly  help  it. 
She  prefers  to  sit  down.  The  ordinary  bar, 
therefore,  has  no  attractions  for  her.  Even 
in  a  railway  refreshment  room,  where  hurry 
excuses  most  things,  a  woman  will  only  stand 
under  compulsion.  It  is  not  that  she  really 
wants  to  sit  down  through  weariness,  for  she 
may  have  been  sitting  for  hours  in  a  railway 
carriage.  But  she  has  an  instinct  for  pro- 
priety and  conduct.  If  tea  shops,  which  are 
so  largely  patronized  by  women,  had  a  high 
bar  like  public-houses,  with  as  little  sitting 
accommodation,  as  is  often  to  be  found  in 
licensed  establishments,  they  could  not  pos- 
sibly keep  open.  Why  it  should  be  customary 
to  stand  up  to  drink  a  glass  of  beer  and  sit 
down  to  take  a  cup  of  tea  is  a  mystery. 

Let  us  admit  and  welcome  the  efforts  of  the 
old  Georgian  coaching  inns  to  keep  abreast 
of  the  times.  Let  us  cheerfully  accept  the 


226  Old  Country   Inns 

attempts  of  mine  host  to  put  life  into  an  old 
musty  coffee-room  and  bar  parlour.  Con- 
servatism is  not  without  value  at  the  inn 
with  a  history,  and  the  landlord  for  his  own 
sake  must  step  warily.  Let  no  iconoclast 
interfere  too  violently  with  the  worm-eaten 
glories  of  old  oak  and  mahogany  or  seek  to 
disparage  the  solid  virtues  of  the  great  round 
of  beef,  or  the  appetising  ingredients  of  the 
game  pie.  Tradition  in  such  things  is  well 
worth  preserving. 

But  it  is  the  licensed  house  which  never  had 
much  of  a  history,  which  has  nothing  interest- 
ing to  preserve,  whose  justification  for  exis- 
tence is  solely  on  account  of  its  use  to  the 
community  as  a  house  of  call,  that  so  often 
requires  alteration.  The  new  inn,  moreover, 
the  building  itself,  erected  here  in  the 
twentieth  century  for  the  accommodation  of 
modern  people,  must  be  as  suitable  for  its 
purpose  as  the  old  coaching -house  was  for  the 
stiff,  befuddled  travellers  who,  a  hundred 
years  ago,  alighted  from  the  "  Royal  Mail " 
or  "  Eclipse "  for  a  much-needed  night's 
repose  on  their  journey  to  London.  It  is  plain 
that  people  use  the  roads  to-day  quite  as  much 
for  pleasure  as  business.  The  railway  takes 
the  business  man  from  one  end  of  England  to 


The  New  Inn  and  its    Possibilities    227 

the  other,  faster,  cheaper,  and  more  comfort- 
ably than  even  the  motor-car  has  yet  achieved 
on  the  turnpike.  Relaxation  from  work 
means  for  many  thousands  a  journey  by 
road,  and  it  is  in  making  suitable  preparation 
for  those  who  take  their  pleasure  in  this  way 
that  the  new  inn  should  devote  at  least  half 
of  its  energies.  The  time  may  not  be  ripe  in 
England  for  the  adoption  of  the  cafe  system  of 
the  Continent.  Perhaps  the  climate  is  some- 
what against  it.  But  some  improvements, 
which  a  study  of  the  French  and  German 
methods  would  suggest,  might  easily  be  taken 
in  hand.  The  argument  of  the  old  teetotaller, 
not  always  expressed,  perhaps,  but  certainly 
present,  was  that  the  more  uncomfortable 
and  disreputable  the  public-house  the  less 
temptation  there  would  be  to  go  into  it. 
One  can  understand  the  point  of  view  as  with 
an  effort  one  can  realise  the  horror  of  the 
Puritans  for  anything  in  the  form  of  an  image 
in  a  Church.  But  people  do  not  want  nowa- 
days to  use  the  inn  as  a  place  in  which  to  get 
drunk  ;  a  drunken  man,  to  say  nothing  of  a 
drunken  woman,  is  a  universal  object  of  pity 
and  scorn.  What  is  demanded  is  a  wholesome, 
clean  and  pleasant  place  in  which  to  have 
something  to  eat  and  drink  without  being 


228  Old   Country   Inns 

told  by  anyone,  publican  or  teetotaller,  what 
form  the  refreshment  shall  take. 

Herein  is  one  of  the  reasons  for  the  move- 
ment in  favour  of  reformed  public-houses. 
The  People's  Refreshment  House  Association, 
Ltd.,  which  has  now  over  seventy  public- 
houses  under  its  management  in  different 
parts  of  the  country  has  shown  how  licensed 
premises  may  be  improved  and  made  to  pay 
at  the  same  time.  Proof  of  this  is  to  be  found 
in  the  balance-sheet  of  the  Association  which 
has  shown  a  regular  annual  payment  of  its 
maximum  dividend  of  five  per  cent,  since 
1899,  with  over  £1,000  placed  to  reserve.  Of 
course,  the  Association  is  frankly  a  temper- 
ance body,  but  it  would  be  just  as  well  if 
those  people  who  shy  at  the  idea  of  public- 
houses  becoming  controlled  by  bigotry  would 
consult  the  dictionary  and  discover  for  them- 
selves the  real  meaning  of  the  word  temper- 
ance. Having  done  so,  they  will,  perhaps, 
realise  that  in  pursuit  of  moderation  there  is 
no  reason  whatever  why  the  interests  of  "  the 
trade/'  the  reformer,  and  the  public  should 
not  be  identical,  for  all  these  prefer  the  tem- 
perate man  to  the  drunkard.  The  fact  that 
about  80  per  cent,  of  the  licensed  houses  of 
England  are  tied  to  brewers  should  not  stand 


I 


s 


I 


The  New  Inn  and    its  Possibilities    229 

in  the  way  of  improvement ;  indeed,  in  some 
cases,  particularly  in  the  provision  and  upkeep 
of  suitable  premises,  brewers  have  done  more 
than  could  possibly  be  undertaken  by  private 
owners  or  the  public -house  Trusts  of  which, 
by  the  way,  there  is  one  now  in  nearly  every 
county.  Without  going  into  the  many  vexed 
questions,  most  of  which  are  matters  for  the 
trade  alone,  surrounding  the  tied  house,  it  may 
not  unreasonably  be  hoped  that  the  brewer  will 
see  more  and  more  in  the  future  how  his  duty 
to  the  public  and  his  interests  alike  demand  a 
broader  and  more  enlightened  policy  than  the 
crude  idea  of  monopoly  of  sale. 

Improvements,  however,  cannot  be  entered 
upon  with  much  hope  of  success  without  the 
sympathy  of  the  licensing  justices,  and  it  is  as 
much  to  be  desired  that  they  should  recognize 
that  the  public  interest  lies  in  the  direction 
of  the  reformed  public-house  as  that  the 
brewer  should  realise  that  licensed  premises 
are  not  solely  to  be  run  as  drinking  shops. 
The  restrictions  in  very  many  parts  of  Eng- 
land which  have  been  put  in  the  way  of 
improvements  and  extensions  are  absurd. 
Wherever  specially  free  facilities  have  been 
granted  for  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquor — 
as  at  the  White  City  in  1908 — nothing  has 


230  Old   Country   Inns 

resulted  which  in  any  way  caused  the  authori- 
ties to  regret  having  trusted  the  public  not 
to  make  beasts  of  themselves.  The  Bill 
introduced  by  Lord  Lamington  in  the  House 
of  Lords  crystallised  the  views  of  reformers, 
who  desire  to  make  the  public-house  more 
attractive.  It  provided  that  licensing 
justices  should  not  interfere  with  the  pro- 
vision of  accommodation  for  the  supply  of 
tea,  coffee,  cocoa,  or  food ;  with  the  sub- 
stitution of  chairs  and  tables  for  bars ;  with 
the  provision  of  games,  newspapers,  music, 
or  gardens,  or  any  other  means  of  reasonable 
recreation.  It  also  asked  that  the  Licensing 
Bench  should  allow  the  improvements  of 
premises  in  the  direction  of  making  them 
more  open  and  airy  than  at  present  and  more 
healthy  generally.  There  are  numerous 
cases  in  which  the  action  of  justices  in  refusing 
to  grant  facilities  for  improvement  has  been 
almost  incomprehensible,  and  amply  justified 
the  implied  rebuke  contained  in  the  Bill. 
In  London  the  continental  cafe — or  rather 
an  English  adaptation  of  the  idea — has  been 
established  with  success,  and  though  the 
metropolis  is  commonly  judged  by  other 
standards  than  those  of  the  countryside,  the 
way  in  which  the  cafe  has  been  received  seems 


The  New  Inn  and   its  Possibilities    231 

to  indicate  not  only  the  desire  for  freer  and 
more  enlightened  management,  but  also  the 
possession  by  the  public  of  sufficient  moral 
fibre  to  make  use  of  the  increased  facilities 
temperately  and  in  reason. 

New  inns  have  been  erected  in  recent  years 
—not  many  of  them  it  is  true — with  the  object 
of  supplying  the  wants  of  to-day  in  a  liberal 
and  broad-minded  way.  Occasionally  the 
assistance  of  architects  of  acknowledged  posi- 
tion has  been  enlisted  in  making  the  buildings 
themselves  more  attractive  and  less  vulgar 
than  has  been  only  too  common,  and  if  the 
effect  of  environment  upon  morality  and 
behaviour  counts  for  anything  these  new  inns 
should  be  an  improvement  in  every  way  upon 
the  bulk  of  those  built  at  any  rate  during  the 
Victorian  period.  The  inn  at  Sandon,  on 
Lord  Harrowby's  estate,  may  be  mentioned 
as  a  case  in  point.  The  Fox  and  Pelican  at 
Haslemere,  the  architects  of  which  were 
Messrs.  Read  and  Macdonald,  is  another, 
which  has,  by  the  way,  a  sign  painted  by  Mr. 
Walter  Crane.  There  is  the  Skittles  Inn  at 
Letchworth,  designed  by  Messrs.  R.  Barry 
Parker,  and  Raymond  Unwin.  In  this  last 
instance  the  conditions  under  which  the 
building  was  erected  were  much  easier  than 

16— (2044) 


232  Old   Country  Inns 

those  which  commonly  obtain  in  older  settled 
districts,  where  many  interests  have  to  be 
considered.  At  Garden  City  the  question 
regarding  the  sale  of  alcoholic  liquors  is  one 
on  which  there  is  considerable  divergence  of 
view.  About  the  necessity  for  providing  a 
well-designed  and  conducted  house  for  the 
general  refreshment  of  travellers  and  as  a 
centre  for  social  intercourse  there  would 
appear,  however,  to  have  been  no  doubt 
whatever.  The  Skittles  is  referred  to  here 
simply  as  a  nicely-planned  building  of  very 
attractive  appearance  which  seems  to  embody 
most  of  the  improvements  one  would  wish  to 
see  in  the  design  of  modern  inns.  The  archi- 
tects have  contrived  cleverly  to  combine  the 
idea  of  the  continental  cafe  and  the  English 
country  inn.  The  rooms  are  large  and  airy, 
there  is  plenty  of  seating  accommodation, 
and  a  billiard- room  is  one  of  the  attractions. 
There  is  an  entire  absence  of  ornamental 
decoration,  a  form  of  embellishment  which 
still  continues  to  appear  in  nine  out  of  every 
ten  newly  equipped  public -houses,  in  the 
country  as  well  as  in  towns.  Of  course, 
it  is  perfectly  plain  that  with  a  new  house  of 
refreshment  which  is  not  to  hold  a  licence, 
anything  may  be  done.  Directly  an  architect 


The  New  Inn   and  its  Possibilities    233 

is  commissioned  to  design  a  fully-licensed 
inn  his  difficulties  commence.  He  is  hedged 
about  by  all  sorts  of  restrictions.  It  is 
inconceivable,  however,  that  the  cause  of 
true  temperance  can  be  injured  by  the  pro- 
vision of  a  good,  convenient  building  for  a 
licensed  victualler's  trade,  instead  of  the 
vulgar  atrocity  which  is  so  common. 

It  is  not  at  all  certain  that  the  classifica- 
tion of  compartments  such  as  saloon  bar, 
private  bar,  public  bar,  tap-room,  bar  parlour, 
and  so  on,  is  not  out  of  harmony  with  modern 
requirements.  No  doubt  this  division  has  its 
conveniences,  in  the  same  way  that  the  three 
classes  of  compartments,  which  some  railway 
companies  still  keep  up  is  found  on  the  whole 
of  benefit.  But,  to  take  the  cafe  again  as  an 
illustration,  there  appears  to  be  no  necessity 
there  for  such  rigid  distinctions,  and  many  of 
the  greater  railway  companies  have  found  no 
ill  results  from  the  total  elimination  of  at 
least  second  class.  Some  of  the  new  tube 
railways  have  only  one  class,  and  if  one 
form  of  public  convenience  is  found  to  answer 
without  class  distinction,  why  not  another  ? 

Some  of  the  new  inns  which  have  archi- 
tectural character  have  been  disfigured  by 
flaring  advertisements.  The  licensed  trade 


234  Old  Country  Inns 

should  know  whether  publicity  of  this  kind 
given  to  particular  brands  of  ale  and  spirits, 
on  the  whole  contributes  to  the  good  of  the 
house  on  which  the  announcements  are  dis- 
played ;  but  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  one 
result  is  to  vulgarize  the  building.  In  cases 
where  the  landlord  of  the  property  sets  his 
face  against  advertising  of  this  kind,  the  inn 
seems  by  contrast  to  proclaim  its  respecta- 
bility and  on  that  account  must  attract  some 
custom,  at  all  events.  A  very  good  building, 
as  yet  not  spoilt  by  advertisements,  is  the  Bell. 
on  the  high  road  between  the  Wake  Arms  and 
Epping,  and  another  is  the  White  Horse, 
Stetchworth,  Newmarket,  which  Mr.  C.  F.  A. 
Voysey  designed  for  Lord  Ellesmere.  The 
Wheatsheaf,  Loughton,  is  a  new  inn  designed 
by  Mr.  Horace  White,  which  is  as  yet  free 
from  objectionable  signboards,  and  is  a  very 
good  type  of  building  for  the  smaller  country 
public.  There  are  also  various  good  inns  de- 
signed by  Mr.  P.  Morley  Horder,  in  Gloucester- 
shire, and  The  George  and  Dragon,  Castleton, 
erected  some  sixteen  years  ago,  is  a  licensed 
house  of  excellent  design,  by  Mr.  W.  Edgar 
Wood. 

For  a  model  wayside  inn  of  the  smaller 
class,   where   the   internal   treatment   shows 


The  New  Inn  and    its  Possibilities    235 

good  taste  with  the  utmost  simplicity  com- 
mend us  to  the  White  Hart  at  West  Wickham. 
It  replaces  a  very  ancient  wooden  house 
which  had  proved  past  repair,  and  is  probably 
unique  amongst  modern  inns  in  that  it  is 
designed  for  the  convenient  drawing  of  all 
the  malt  liquors  direct  from  the  wood. 
Another  more  ambitious  house  by  the  same 
architects  (Messrs.  Berney  &  Son)  at  Elmers 
End,  with  an  elaborate  half-timbered  front, 
recalling  Black  Forest  architecture,  has  antici- 
pated the  requirements  of  the  Children's 
Act.  The  well-proportioned  tea  room  is 
approached  by  a  colonnade  at  the  side  of  the 
building  and  isolated  from  the  bars. 

Among  brewers  who  have  had  the  foresight 
to  erect  inns  of  better  accommodation  and 
more  pleasing  design  than  most  of  those  put 
up  during  the  latter  part  of  last  century 
are  Messrs.  Godsell  &  Co.,  of  Stroud,  an 
example  of  whose  houses  we  illustrate  in  the 
Greyhound  Inn  ;  and  the  Stroud  Brewery  Co., 
whose  Prince  Albert  at  Rodborough,  Glouces- 
tershire, and  the  Clothiers'  Arms,  are  excellent 
specimens  of  the  modern  country  inn.  These 
three  were  from  the  designs  of  Mr.  P.  Morley 
Horder.  Good  taste  is  by  no  means  lacking 
in  some  of  the  many  houses  owned  by  Messrs. 


236  Old  Country  Inns 

Nalder  &  Collyer,  Ltd.,  in  Kent,  Surrey, 
and  Sussex.  This  firm  have  also  restored  the 
old-fashioned  type  of  signboards. 

Other  inns  of  recent  date  and  of  distinctive 
design  are  the  Red  Lion,  King's  Heath, 
Worcestershire,  by  Messrs.  Bateman  &  Bate- 
man  ;  the  Wentworth  Arms,  Elmesthorpe, 
Leicestershire,  by  Mr.  C.  F.  A.  Voysey ;  the 
George,  Hayes,  Kent,  by  Mr.  Ernest  Newton ; 
the  Duck-in-the-Pond,  Harrow  Weald,  by 
Mr.  R.  A.  Briggs;  the  Maynard  Arms,  Bag- 
worth,  Leicester,  by  Messrs.  Everard  &  Pick  \ 
the  remodelled  White  Hart  at  Sonning-on- 
Thames,  by  Mr.  W.  Campbell  Jones  ;  the  Dog 
and  Doublet,  Sandon  ;  the  Hundred  House, 
Purslow,  Shropshire  (a  modern  reconstruc- 
tion) ;  the  Green  Man,  Tunstall,  Suffolk ;  the 
Old  White  House  and  the  Elm  Tree  at  Oxford, 
by  Mr.  Henry  T.  Hare ;  and  various  temperance 
inns,  amongst  which  are  the  Ossington  Coffee 
House,  Newark,  by  Messrs.  Ernest  George  & 
Yeates  ;  the  Bridge  Inn,  Port  Sunlight,  by 
Messrs.  Grayson  &  Ould  (now  fully  licensed) ; 
and  the  Bournville  Estate  public-house,  by  Mr. 
W.  Alexander  Harvey.  In  London  two  finely 
designed  interiors  are  the  Coal  Hole,  in  the 
Strand,  by  Mr.  W.  Colcutt,  and  the  Copt  Hall, 
inCopthall  Avenue,  by  Mr.  P.  Morley  Horder. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

INN   FURNITURE 

IT  will  not  come  as  any  surprise  to  readers 
who  have  so  far  dipped  with  us  into  the 
pages  of  the  past,  to  learn  that  mediaeval 
inns,  and  indeed  those  of  the  fifteenth  and 
early  sixteenth  centuries,  have  very  little 
to  show  in  the  way  of  furniture.  Our  ances- 
tors had  far  less  done  for  them  when  they 
put  up  for  the  night  than  we  are  accustomed 
to  to-day  in  the  most  primitive  districts. 
Travellers  did  not  even  expect  a  bed.  They 
were  thankful  enough  if  they  could  get  some 
sort  of  rough  bedstead  on  which  to  lay  their 
own  bed  which  they  brought  with  them.  Of 
course,  these  were  people  of  some  means. 
Whenever  Royalty  travelled  the  train  of 
waggons  required  to  convey  furnishing 
equipment  frequently  extended  to  formidable 
dimensions.  On  the  other  hand,  the  accu- 
mulation of  wealth  in  the  sixteenth  century 
soon  began  to  raise  the  standard  of  furnishing 
at  the  inn,  and  a  diary  kept  by  a  Dutch 
physician  named  Levinus  Lemnius,  who  made 

237 


238  Old   Country  Inns 

an  adventure  into  England  during  Elizabeth's 
reign,  is  worth  quoting  as  an  indication  of  the 
rapid  improvement  which  was  taking  place. 
The  good  doctor  evidently  had  not  been  used 
to  luxuries,  for  he  says  :  '  The  neate  cleanli- 
ness, the  exquisite  fineness,  the  pleasaunte 
and  delightful  furniture  in  every  poynt  for 
the  household,  wonderfully  rejoyced  me,  their 
nosegayes,  finely  entermingled  with  sundry 
sortes  of  fragreunte  flowers  in  their  bed- 
chambers and  privy  roomes  with  comfortable 
smell  cheered  mee  up  and  entirely  delyghted 
all  my  sences."  He  probably  stayed  at  the 
best  hostelries  which  could  be  found,  and  it 
would  be  unwise  to  conclude  that  all  inns  of 
the  period  had  so  many  charms  as  those  to 
which  he  refers. 

One  feature  of  the  furnishing  of  old  inns 
which  adds  not  a  little  to  the  picturesqueness 
of  the  interiors  is  the  high-backed  settle, 
with  wings  or  arms.  This  is  universal  all 
over  England.  It  varies  considerably  in 
different  localities,  for  the  local  handicrafts- 
man has  worked  according  to  tradition,  and 
he  has  also  in  most  cases  made  the  settle  for  a 
particular  place  and  to  serve  a  special  purpose. 
Of  course,  the  original  reason  for  its  design 
was  to  keep  out  draughts  from  the  constantly 


Inn   Furniture  239 


opening  door,  and  this  purpose  is  still  strong 
enough  to  make  the  settle  a  very  convenient, 
not  to  say  necessary,  fixture  in  most  inns,  in 
spite  of  all  sorts  of  modern  draught-excluding 
devices.  It  scarcely  seems  likely  that  the 
high -backed  settle  will  ever  be  entirely 
superseded.  It  is  not  particularly  comfort- 
able according  to  present-day  ideas  of  comfort 
in  seats,  which  seem  to  revolve  round  uphol- 
stery. But  it  is  very  clean.  It  will  not 
harbour  dust,  and  if  well  made  it  will  stand 
the  assaults  of  time  for  centuries.  The  old 
Elizabethan  and  Jacobean  settles  were  ex- 
tremely heavy.  It  was  evident  in  those  days 
that  sturdiness  was  inseparable  from  strength, 
and  considering  the  possible  rough  usage  to 
which  seats  in  the  inn  might  well  on  occasion 
be  put,  the  heavy  timbers  of  which  they  were 
constructed  seem  to  have  been  well  advised. 
They  very  often  had  fine  carving,  and 
were  constructed  with  the  seat  form- 
ing a  lid  to  the  boxed-in  lower  part.  It 
was  in  the  eighteenth  century  that  settles 
became  of  little  account,  and  they  were  then 
plainly  made  by  carpenters  simply  to  serve 
a  useful  purpose.  There  is  a  good  example 
of  a  carved  settle  in  the  Union  Inn,  Flyford 
Flavel,  Worcestershire ;  and  in  many  an  old 


240  Old  Country  Inns 

inn  in  Berkshire,  a  county  which  has  retained 
its  ancient  character  perhaps  more  than  any 
other,  are  heavy  old  oak  settles  guarding  the 
warm  fireside.  In  the  tap-room  of  the 
Green  Dragon,  Combe  St.  Nicholas,  near  Chard, 
is  a  settle  finely  carved  of  fifteenth-century 
origin.  Judging  by  its  character  it  must  at 
one  time  have  been  in  some  ecclesiastical  build- 
ing. The  Green  Dragon  was  monastic. 
The  settle  after  a  time  developed  into  the 
fixed  partition,  its  back  stretched  up  to  the 
ceiling,  and  a  door  was  placed  at  the  end,  the 
partition  being  continued  beyond  to  the 
opposite  wall.  Considerations  of  light  some- 
times prevented  this  being  carried  out  entirely 
but  a  modern  compromise  was  effected  by 
glazing  the  screen  above  the  high  settle  back 
and  putting  glass  panels  in  the  door.  The 
development  of  the  ingle-nook  came  about 
through  chimney-corner  and  settle  being 
combined  in  one  feature. 

The  settle  in  some  form  or  other  is  the  best 
possible  seat  for  the  inn,  particularly  if 
space  is  limited.  It  might  be  pleasanter  to 
have  small  tables  and  chairs,  but  in  many 
an  old  building  there  is  only  enough  room  for 
a  couple  of  long  seats  and  a  table.  A  long 
bench  upon  which  people  can  sit  in  a  row 


•5, 


Inn  Furniture  241 


side  by  side  is  the  best  seat  in  existence  for 
saving  space.  Light  furniture  is  utterly 
unsuitable  for  inns.  For  one  thing  it  is 
usually  nothing  like  strong  enough,  and 
even  if  it  be  it  commits  an  artistic  sin  in  look- 
ing too  fragile  for  its  purpose.  Take  the 
respective  merits  of  the  very  many  forms  in 
which  the  old  Windsor  chair  has  been  made, 
and  the  modern  bent-wood  chair.  Now  the 
latter  is  without  doubt  the  strongest  seat  for 
its  weight  which  has  been  invented  in  modern 
times.  It  is  one  of  the  few  successes  in  chair- 
making  which  can  claim  to  be  the  direct  out- 
come of  scientific  methods.  It  has  absolutely 
no  ancestors  whatever,  and  can  attach  itself 
to  no  tradition.  It  is  a  bald  product  of  the 
application  of  science  to  furniture,  and  when 
the  Austrian  inventor  finally  made  it  perfect 
he  had  achieved  utility,  nothing  more,  nothing 
less.  The  bent- wood  chair  is  in  pretty  nearly 
every  concert  hall  in  the  world.  It  has 
conquered  completely  the  restaurants  and 
cafes  of  the  Continent,  and  it  is  to  be  seen 
often  in  old  inns  of  the  English  countryside. 
Now,  the  last  is  a  regrettable  fact.  The 
Austrian  bent-wood  chair  or  settee  looks 
positively  effeminate  in  the  country  inn  with 
its  thin  polished  legs,  its  slender-looking  back, 


242  Old   Country  Inns 

and  perforated,  mechanically  made  seat. 
Something  is  called  for  of  a  greater  weight  of 
timber,  which  shall  look  more  in  keeping  with 
the  building  and  more  in  accordance  with  the 
solid  unimpassioned,  phlegmatic  way  of  life 
of  rural  districts.  Let  us  have  the  chair  or 
settle  made  by  the  village  wheelwright  or 
carpenter,  rather  than  the  product  of  an 
Austrian  factory. 

But  in  the  Windsor  chair  we  have  a  type 
which  can  certainly  compete  with  bent-wood 
in  strength  if  not  in  lightness.  The  Windsor 
chair,  besides,  is  capable  of  much  greater 
variety  of  form  than  the  Austrian  production. 
It  has  a  tradition  of  its  own  and  has  as  great 
a  celebrity  as  its  more  modern  competitor. 
It  is  heavier  and  sturdier.  It  savours  some- 
what of  the  kitchen,  but  although  it  cannot 
be  regarded  as  the  last  word  on  art  craftsman- 
ship, it  is  not  altogether  unpleasant  to  look 
upon,  and  is  much  more  comfortable  in  use 
than  many  a  chair  with  greater  pretensions 
to  artistic  appearance.  It  is  still  made  by 
hand  and  costs  very  little.  In  the  sixteenth 
and  seventeenth  centuries  the  smaller  inns 
contained  many  chairs,  a  few  of  which  are  still 
to  be  met  with,  simply  made  by  the  village 
joiner  on  the  lathe.  They  had  plain  wooden 


Inn  Furniture  243 


seats,  and  there  was  very  great  diversity  of 
"  members  "  in  the  turned  rails.  They  called 
for  comparatively  little  skill  to  make,  and 
beyond  their  bare  proportions  showed  small 
ingenuity  in  making  the  form  comfortable  for 
the  body.  Frequently  they  had  rush  seats. 
Within  recent  years  chairs  of  this  kind  have 
been  sought  for  and  made  the  base  of  many 
extremely  interesting  seats,  designed  and 
constructed  by  modern  craftsmen. 

The  oldest  form  of  inn  table  is  the  trestle. 
It  dates  back  to  the  Middle  Ages,  and  although 
nothing  like  so  much  used  to-day,  it  still 
survives  in  many  an  old  tap-room.  It  was 
originally  even  a  simpler  affair  than  it  is  now, 
being  merely  a  board  with  movable  trestles 
underneath.  It  could  readily  be  moved  and 
pushed  away  if  space  were  required  on  special 
occasion.  At  the  Plough  Inny  Birdbrook, 
Essex,  an  old  thatched  house,  is  a  red  brick 
floored  tap-room  which  contains  several  fine 
trestle  tables  and  settles  of  simple  design 
and  perfect  utility. 

But  the  simple  table,  chair  and  settle, 
beyond  which  the  public  part  of  the  inns  of  the 
Middle  Ages  and  the  smaller  alehouses  for 
centuries  were  unfurnished,  except,  perhaps, 
for  a  stool  or  backless  bench,  are  nothing 


244  Old  Country    Inns 

compared  with  the  splendid  legacy  of  sixteenth 
and  seventeenth-century  carved  oak  furniture 
still  left  to  us  in  many  of  the  historic  hostelries 
in  the  shires.  Later  enthusiasm  in  collecting 
has  no  doubt  been  responsible  for  the  fine 
specimens  of  furniture  such  as  those  to  be  seen 
at  the  Lygon  Arms,  Broadway,  Worcester- 
shire, and  it  is  extremely  difficult  to  say  with 
certainty  how  many  of  the  genuinely  old 
pieces  to  be  found  in  other  famous  inns 
originally  belonged  to  the  building.  There  is 
the  Feathers,  Ludlow,  where  in  the  beautiful 
old  dining-room  is  a  fine  collection  of  furniture, 
hardly  in  accord  with  the  period  of  the  ceiling, 
the  carved  oak  overmantel,  and  other  per- 
manent features  of  the  room.  The  Jacobean 
and  Chippendale  chairs  are  the  result  of 
enlightened  purchase  in  later  days.  One  of 
the  finest  Jacobean  staircases  in  an  inn  is 
that  at  the  Red  Lion,  Truro. 

Very  little  furniture  of  the  Renaissance 
period,  from  the  Elizabethan  carved  oak  to 
the  mahogany  of  the  later  eighteenth  century, 
is  peculiar  to  inns.  An  exception  is  the  bar, 
which,  of  course,  was  a  fixture  and  part  of 
the  inn  structure.  Our  modern  bar  with  its 
almost  invariable  ugliness,  its  row  of  vertical 
handles  for  drawing  beer,  and  its  aggressive 


Inn  Furniture  245 


cash  register,  is  a  poor  survival  of  the  Jaco- 
bean bar,  an  example  of  which  is  still  in 
existence  at  the  Maid's  Head,  Norwich.  It 
is  worthy  of  recollection  that  the  high  stools 
which  enable  one  to  sit  at  a  bar  are  quite 
of  modern  origin.  Bar  lounging  evidently 
did  not  become  a  habit  until  the  nineteenth 
century.  People  sat  down  and  had  their 
refreshments  at  ease. 

A  table  which  was  sometimes  found  in 
Jacobean  inns  of  the  larger  and  more  impor- 
tant kind  was  the  one  upon  which  the  game  of 
"  shovel-board  "  was  played.  "  Shovel-board  " 
tables  were  very  long,  sometimes  even  as  much 
as  ten  yards.  They  were  about  three  feet 
or  three  feet  six  inches  wide,  and  the  game 
played  resembles  in  principle  our  own  deck 
billiards.  Indeed  the  " shovel-board"  table 
is  thought  to  be  the  direct  ancestor  of  the 
modern  billiard  table,  without  which,  of 
course,  no  inn  of  any  size  nowadays  is  com- 
plete. The  extreme  vagueness  of  the  early 
history  of  the  game  of  billiards,  however, 
scarcely  justifies  any  dogmatic  statement  as 
to  its  relationship  with  "  shovel-board."  A 
Charles  II  billiard  table  with  a  wooden  bed, 
cork  cushions,  and  corkscrew  legs  is  in  the 
possession  of  Mr.  Robert  Rushbrooke,  of 


246  Old  Country  Inns 

Rushbrooke,  which  seems  to  show  that 
"  shovel-board "  tables  and  billiard  tables 
existed  at  the  same  time.  This,  however, 
does  not  do  away  with  the  contention  of  those 
who  assert  that  the  modern  game  was  elabor- 
ated from  the  simpler  pastime  beloved  of 
Henry  VIII  and  Charles  II.  The  last  long 
"shovel-board"  table  in  an  inn  was  definitely 
stated  by  Strutt,  in  his  "  Sports  and  Pastimes 
of  the  People  of  England/ '  to  be  at  "  a  low 
public-house  in  Benjamin  Street,  Clerkenwell 
Green/'  It  was  three  feet  broad  and 
thirty-nine  feet  long. 

As  "shovel-board"  tables  were  very  expen- 
sive pieces  of  furniture,  it  is  doubtful  whether 
any  but  the  most  important  inns  ever  had  them. 
The  game  was  played  frequently  on  tables 
of  much  smaller  dimensions,  and  the  name 
of  "  shovel-board "  is  usually  used  now- 
adays to  designate  a  particular  form  of  ex- 
tending table  with  hidden  leaves.  The  long 
Elizabethan  and  Jacobean  tables — rather 
mistakenly  known  as  refectory  tables — which 
stood  on  stout  turned  legs  connected  by  thick 
rails,  were  ideal  boards  for  the  old  game. 
At  Penshurst  are,  at  the  present  time,  two  of 
the  finest  specimens  of  long  trestle  tables 
in  the  country.  They  date  from  the  early 


Inn  Furniture  247 


fifteenth  century  and  measure  twenty-seven 
feet  long  by  three  feet  wide. 

Innkeepers,  of  course,  had  to  keep  abreast 
of  the  times  in  the  matter  of  furnishing,  and 
in  the  coaching  era  the  old  hostelries  were 
furnished  in  the  latest  and  most  approved 
fashion.  Hence  it  is  that  the  Georgian  inns, 
where  they  have  not  been  denuded  of  their 
treasures  by  enterprising  collectors,  or  turned 
inside  out  by  some  unfortunately  advised 
landlord  who  preferred  Victorian  horsehair 
and  mahogany,  still  contain  many  interesting 
pieces  of  the  time  of  Chippendale,  Heppel- 
white,  and  Sheraton.  A  warning  may  not  be 
out  of  place  to  those  who  imagine  that  these 
famous  names  applied  to  furniture  really 
indicate  that  the  cabinet -making  was  done  by 
the  craftsmen  themselves.  Without  unim- 
peachable documentary  evidence,  it  is  utterly 
impossible  to  ascribe  any  fine  piece  of 
mahogany  to  any  one  of  the  three  great 
cabinet-makers  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
The  names  indicate  nowadays  certain  periods 
which  are  fairly  definitely  fixed,  and  certain 
easily  recognizable  styles  of  work.  In  many 
an  old  inn  you  will  see  in  the  coffee-room  or 
commercial  room  side  tables,  dining  tables., 
card  tables,  chairs,  settees,  mirrors,  long-case 

17— (2244) 


248  Old   Country  Inns 

clocks,  bureaux,  and  corner  cupboards  which 
may  typify  any  or  all  of  the  great  periods  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  and  it  is  quite  likely 
that  down  in  the  hall  or  in  the  corridors  and 
kitchen  you  will  discover  specimens  of  Jaco- 
bean chests,  gate-leg  tables,  dressers,  a 
"  bread-and-cheese  "  cupboard,  perhaps,  and 
other  relics  of  even  an  earlier  age.  The  fact 
was,  of  course,  that  pieces  of  furniture  were 
bought  as  they  were  required,  and  when  an  inn 
had  a  history  running  well  into  two  centuries 
it  would  have  been  remarkable  indeed  if  a 
heterogeneous  collection  had  not  been  got 
together.  It  is  only  the  modern  craze  for 
collecting  which  has  robbed  the  inn  of  so  many 
of  its  treasures.  The  experts  will  tell  you  that 
the  fact  of  a  piece  of  furniture  being  old  is  no 
guarantee  whatever  of  its  worth,  excepting 
whatever  value  may  be  attached  to  mere 
length  of  years.  A  joiner  in  the  country,  say 
in  Shropshire  or  Yorkshire,  might  not  make 
a  piece  of  furniture  for  mine  host  of  the 
Chequers  or  Blue  Lion  as  well  or  in  such  good 
taste  as  would  the  first-class  cabinet-makers 
of  London.  It  is  quite  likely  that  he  would 
invest  it  with  some  local  character,  and  if 
this  is  well  preserved  in  the  piece  it  has  its 
worth  on  this  account  alone.  But  country 


Inn  Furniture  249 


made  Chippendale,  Heppelwhite,  or  Sheraton 
furniture,  although  charming  enough,  has  rarely 
any  exceptional  value.  Wherever  the  contents 
of  a  large  country  house  was  offered  for  sale, 
the  innkeeper  as  a  man  of  some  substance 
would  buy,  and  it  is  this  fact  which  explains 
in  some  cases  the  finds  of  really  valuable 
furniture  which  have  been  made  at  old  inns. 
The  sort  of  advertisement — common  enough 
then  as  now — which  attracted  local  com- 
petition can  be  realised  by  the  following, 
from  the  Kentish  Gazette  of  September  21st, 
1790,  which  announced  the  sale  in  the  Isle 
of  Thanet  of  : 

"  All  the  genuine  Household  Furniture,  comprising 
bedsteads  with  marine  and  other  furniture,  fine 
goose  feather  beds,  blankets,  etc.,  mahogany  ward- 
robes, chest  of  drawers,  ditto  dressing  tables, 
mahogany  press,  bedsteads,  with  green  check  furni- 
ture ;  mahogany  escritoire  ;  ditto  writing  table  with 
drawers ;  ditto  dining  and  Pembroke  tables ; 
library  table  with  steps ;  mahogany  and  other 
chairs ;  pier  glasses  and  girandoles,  in  carved  and 
gilt  frames  ;  a  neat  sofa  ;  an  exceeding  good  eight- 
day  clock  ;  Wilton  and  other  carpets  ;  register  and 
Bath  stoves  ;  kitchen  range  ;  smoke-jack  and  other 
useful  kitchen  furniture  ;  two  large  brewing-coppers, 
exceedingly  good  brewing  utensils, and  other  effects." 

This  was  the  sale  of  the  property  of  a  man  of 
quality.     It  is  probable  from  the  description 


250  Old  Country  Inns 

that  the  furniture  was  comparatively  new 
at  that  time.  The  Pembroke  table,  the 
mahogany  escritoire,  the  pier  glasses  and 
girandoles  and  other  items  were  plainly 
eighteenth  century.  The  enumerated  articles 
would  no  doubt  be  the  most  attractive  pieces 
in  the  sale.  Whether  there  was  any  old  oak 
or  not  cannot  be  ascertained  from  the  adver- 
tisement, but  it  is  quite  likely,  for  it  would 
never  be  quoted,  being  thought  at  that  time 
of  no  value.  The  catalogues  of  such  sales 
were  always  left  with  the  chief  innkeepers 
of  the  neighbourhood,  and  to  the  innkeeper 
came  any  likely  buyers  who  would  discuss  the 
mansion  and  its  contents.  Foreign  com- 
petition in  the  way  of  dealers  from  London, 
was  not  to  be  feared  in  those  days,  and  the 
"  neat  sofa  "  and  "  exceeding  good  eight -day 
clock  "  were  quite  as  likely  to  find  their  way 
to  the  coaching  inn  as  to  any  of  the  prosperous 
farmhouses  in  the  neighbourhood. 

A  fairly  common  fixture  in  old  inns  was  the 
angle  cupboard.  It  was  usually  not  a  separ- 
ate piece  of  furniture,  but  was  fitted  into  the 
angle  of  the  wall.  It  takes  up  little  space, 
and  was  convenient  for  the  storage  of  crockery. 

There  is  a  famous  angle  cupboard  at  the 
New  Inn,  New  Romney. 


Inn  Furniture  251 


The  bedchambers  of  the  old  coaching  inns 
had  as  an  inevitable  feature  the  four -posters, 
now,  by  the  way,  again  coming  into  fashion. 
These  bedsteads  were  not  always  fine  in  design 
by  any  means.  The  turning  of  the  posts  was 
often  quite  clumsy  enough,  but  they  were 
never  so  hideous  as  the  tester  beds  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  The  prettiest  bed-posts 
were  those  of  the  latter  half  of  the  Georgian 
period,  and  Heppelwhite  in  particular  is 
credited  with  the  design  of  some  of  the  most 
charming.  As  to  drapery,  which  all  good 
chambermaids  kept  spotless  and  clean,  the 
following  suggestion  from  Heppelwhite's  own 
book  may  be  quoted. 

"  It  may  be  executed  of  almost  any  stuff 
which  the  loom  produces.  White  dimity, 
plain  or  corded,  is  peculiarly  applicable  for 
the  furniture,  which,  with  a  fringe  with  a 
gymp  head,  produces  an  effect  of  elegance  and 
neatness  truly  agreeable."  He  goes  on  to 
say :  "  The  Manchester  stuffs  have  been 
wrought  into  bed  furniture  with  good  success. 
Printed  cottons  and  linens  are  also  very 
suitable,  the  elegance  and  variety  of  patterns 
of  which  afford  as  much  scope  for  taste, 
elegance  and  simplicity  as  the  most  lively 
fancy  can  wish.  In  general  the  lining  to  these 


252  Old   Country  Inns 

kinds  of  furniture  is  a  plain  white  cotton.  To 
furniture  of  a  dark  pattern  a  green  silk  lining 
may  be  used  with  good  effect." 

This  description  gives  a  very  fair  idea  of 
the  way  in  which  beds  were  draped  about  a 
hundred  to  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago. 
Of  course,  the  word  "  furniture  "  in  the  above 
quotation  is  an  old  name  for  the  hangings. 
It  is  used  in  the  sense  that  hangings  furnished 
the  bed. 

Tall-boys  were  found  in  the  old  inn  bedroom, 
the  corner  washstand  with  its  blue  and  white 
crockery,  and  one  of  those  small  loose  mirrors 
(far  too  small  for  the  modern  beauty)  with 
three  little  drawers  underneath.  It  is  quite 
common  in  any  country  inn  nowadays  to 
meet  with  these  simple  furnishings,  though 
the  four-poster  has  given  way  in  many  in- 
stances to  cheap  "black  and  brass"  or  "all- 
black  "  bedsteads  of  the  age  of  mechanical 
ingenuity,  and  instead  of  a  bed  of  goose-down 
you  shall  lie  on  wool  over  that  really  very 
comfortable  rascal  the  wire  mattress.  The 
immortal  Jingle,  who  surely  puts  into  four 
words  more  philosophy  on  the  subject  of  a 
good  inn  than  anyone  else  in  fiction,  summed 
up  everything  when  he  remarked,  "  Good 
house ;  nice  beds." 


Inn  Furniture  253 


The  day  should  not  be  far  distant  when  the 
new  inn,  not  large  fashionable  hotels,  will  seek 
to  furnish  in  some  better  way  than  by  the 
purchase  of  heavy  and  ornate  cast-iron  tables 
with  marble  tops  for  the  saloon  bar,  with 
utterly  unsuitable  saddle-bag  suites  for  the 
parlour,  with  flashing  mirrors  everywhere,  and 
ornamental  crockery,  palm  stands  of  dubious 
origin,  and  gilt  leather  papers  as  decorative 
enrichments. 

However  much  influence  the  Arts  and  Crafts 
movement  has  had  in  the  furnishing  of  the 
domestic  dwelling,  it  has  left  practically 
untouched  the  house  which  belongs  of  right  to 
the  public.  There  are  craftsmen,  however, 
many  of  them,  whose  furniture  seems  as  if  it 
were  designed  specially  for  the  country  inn, 
yet  it  is  doubtful  whether  one  was  ever 
commissioned  to  supply  the  equipment  which 
would  give  such  character  and  charm  to  the 
modern  licensed  house.  Some  of  the  pieces 
of  furniture,  such  as  plain  straightforward 
oaken  drawers,  benches,  chairs,  sturdy  tables, 
cupboards  and  the  like  which  have  for  many 
years  been  exhibited  by  members  of  the 
Arts  and  Crafts  Exhibition  Society,  would  be 
infinitely  more  suitable  in  the  inn  than  any- 
where else.  It  is  not  apparently  lack  of 


254  Old   Country  Inns 

money  which  makes  those  who  furnish  inns 
anew  look  to  the  modern  and  often  hideous 
productions  of  commerce  for  their  furniture. 
It  would  seem  to  be  rather  lack  of  knowledge 
or  taste.      No    publican    exists    but    wants 
to  make  his  house  attractive ;    but,  except 
occasional  advice  about  the  preservation  of 
the  character  of  old  inns  by  the  retention  of 
what  old  furniture  there  may  be  and  the  pur- 
chase of  other  pieces  in  a  style  suitable  to  the 
building,  there  would  appear  to  be  no  influence 
whatever  to  prevent  refurnishing  in  a  manner 
which  suggests  too  often  an  attempt  to  re- 
produce a  railway  hotel  in  miniature.     At 
the  moment  the  most  accessible  good  furniture 
for  the  new  inns  is  to  be  found  in  the  modern 
reproductions  of  well-known  styles  which  are 
to  be  purchased  through  the  ordinary  com- 
mercial channels  and  at  commercial  prices. 
It  is  the  commonest  experience  to  go  into  a 
country     inn     of     undeniable     architectural 
charm,  even  if  the  attraction  be  merely  that 
it  seems  a  simple  homely  looking  building  and 
nothing  else,  and  to  find  inside  furnishing  as 
bad  or  worse  than  that  of  the  cheap  lodging- 
house.     Now  the  inn  should  be  a  cut  above 
that.     It  should  not  be  too  much  to  expect 
a  little  simplicity  in  furnishing.     It  is  the 


I 

1 


3 

*• 

4 


Inn    Furniture  255 


attempt  to  elaborate  which  usually  results 
in  such  artistic  disaster.  We  have  in  memory 
many  a  little  public-house,  whose  parlour  is  so 
small  as  to  prohibit  the  slightest  effort  at 
decorative  detail,  and  others — obscure  ale- 
houses some  of  them — where  obviously  there 
is  not  the  wherewithal  to  provide  up-to-date 
splendours,  and  in  these  instances  the  plain, 
honest  benches,  the  trestle  tables,  the  Wind- 
sor chairs  and  homely  dresser  constitute  an 
interior  which  could  scarcely  be  improved. 
There  being  no  chance  to  elaborate,  well  has 
fortunately  been  left  alone. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

THE   INNKEEPER 

"  A  seemly  man  our  Hoste  was  withal. 
For  to  have  been  a  marshall  in  a  hall. 
A  large  man  he  was  with  eyen  stepe, 
A  fairer  burgess  is  there  none  in  Chepe  ; 
Bold  of  his  speech  and  wise,  and  well-y-taught 
And  of  manhood  him  lackede  right  naught. 
Like  thereto  he  was  right  a  merry  man." 

A  MODEL  to  all  innkeepers  was  Our  Hoste 
of  the  Tabard  ;  a  born  leader  of  men,  quick 
to  understand  each  man's  individualities, 
and  full  of  kindly  sympathy  for  all.  Ready 
of  wit,  he  was  ever  careful  to  remove  the 
sting  before  it  could  rankle.  A  man  of 
education,  he  could  adapt  himself  to  his 
company  and  be  skilful  in  devices  for  their 
comfort  and  recreation.  Not  least  of  his 
many  qualifications  as  a  landlord  was  his 
presence  of  mind  in  averting  disputes  by  a 
judicious  change  of  the  subject. 

We  no  longer  send  innkeepers  to  Parlia- 
ment, nor  do  members  of  Parliament,  as  a  rule, 
undertake  the  personal  superintendence  of 

256 


The  Innkeeper  257 

hotels,  as  they  often  did  in  the  fourteenth 
century.  But  the  type  of  innkeeper  por- 
trayed as  Harry  Bailey  of  the  Tabard,  in 
Southwark,  is  by  no  means  extinct.  You 
may  find  him  if  you  search  well  under  many  an 
old  gable  or  Queen  Anne  cornice — sometimes 
even  in  a  smart  new  red-brick  hotel.  Nor  is 
he  lacking  on  the  great  ancient  trade  routes 
that  run  right  through  Europe — not  even 
in  those  establishments  recommended  by 
Baedeker  or  Bradshaw — though  the  new  races 
of  purse-proud  tourists  and  Cook's  excur- 
sionists are  fast  expelling  him  in  favour  of  the 
servile  and  mercenary  business  manager.  In 
a  humbler  way,  the  village  and  wayside  inns 
contain  good  men  and  true  who  follow  in  the 
footsteps  of  Harry  Bailey.  Such  inns,  often 
kept  by  retired  tradesmen,  blacksmiths  or 
farmers,  are  a  boon  and  a  blessing  to  the 
neighbourhood.  They  are  not  only  a  centre 
of  recreation  for  the  village  labourer ;  they 
tend  also  to  educate  and  uplift  him,  ridiculous 
as  the  assertion  may  seem  to  those  who  have 
never  put  on  an  old  coat  and  tramped  through 
the  by-ways  into  Arcady. 

Diverse  and  sundry  are  the  concerns  in 
which  the  village  innkeeper  is  called  upon  to 
give  advice.  He  is  the  arbitrator  in  disputes, 


258  Old  Country  Inns 

he  solves  weighty  problems  of  rural  etiquette. 
He  knows  the  inner  secrets  of  every  home 
and  can  weigh  the  respective  merits  of  his 
clientele  to  a  nicety.  To  him  it  is  that  each 
one  comes  for  help  in  trouble,  social  or  finan- 
cial, and  his  charity  is  given  irrespective  of 
politics  or  creed,  given  considerately  as  be- 
comes a  man  of  affairs,  and  without  stint. 
The  parish  clergy  know  him  as  a  valuable 
ally,  and  it  is  not  unusual  to  find  him  acting 
as  churchwarden.  Nay,  only  the  other  day 
we  saw  a  procession  headed  by  the  worthy 
village  publican  carrying  the  cross,  and  a 
manful  and  decorous  crossbearer  he  proved 
himself. 

It  is  surprising  what  good  fellows  innkeepers 
generally  are,  when  one  considers  all  the 
difficulties  surrounding  their  occupation. 
They  are  the  legitimate  prey  of  every  tax  and 
rate  collector.  We  know  of  one  middle-class 
beerhouse  where  the  rent  charged  by  the 
brewers  is  only  £50  a  year,  but  which  is  rated 
at  more  than  double  that  amount.  The  inn- 
keeper, for  the  purpose  of  taxation,  is  merged 
in  the  licensed  victualler.  He  is  told  that 
his  business  of  selling  fermented  liquors  is  a 
valuable  monopoly,  and  a  very  heavy  licensed 
duty  is  exacted  for  the  privilege.  Yet  he  is 


The  Innkeeper  259 

expected  to  view  with  equanimity  the  dozens 
of  bottles  of  beer,  wine  and  spirits  passing 
his  door  in  the  trucks  of  the  grocer,  who  by 
virtue  of  a  nominal  licence  can  easily  undersell 
him.  Long  after  the  hour  when  he  is  bound 
by  law  to  close,  he  hears  the  shouts  of  the 
bibulous  in  the  neighbouring  political  club  ; 
on  Sunday  mornings  he  sees  a  procession  of 
jugs  and  bottles  issuing  from  this  same  un- 
taxed  establishment.  Blackmailed  by  the 
police,  and  spied  upon  by  the  hirelings  of  all 
kinds  of  busybody  societies,  he  goes  to  the 
Brewster  Sessions  in  each  year  in  fear  and 
trembling.  The  licensing  justices  must  by 
law  have  no  interest  whatever  either  in  a 
brewery  or  a  licensed  house  of  any  description, 
but  they  may  be,  and  frequently  are,  teeto- 
tallers. Every  other  subject  of  his  Majesty 
is  entitled  to  plead  his  cause  before  his  peers. 
The  licensed  victualler,  alone  of  all  English- 
men since  the  days  of  Magna  Charta,  has  to 
submit  to  be  tried  by  enemies  who  have 
sworn  his  ruin. 

How  we  all  love  to  see,  on  the  stage,  at  least, 
if  not  in  real  life,  jovial,  hearty  old  souls  like 
Mine  Host  who  entertained  Falstaff  at  the 
Garter,  or  old  Will  Boniface  (first  landlord  to 
be  so  dubbed)  of  the  Beaux  Stratagem.  It 


260  Old  Country  Inns 

is  disappointing  that  Farquhar  was  such  a 
wronghead  dramatist  as  to  make  all  his 
interesting  characters  vicious.  We  cannot 
believe  this  fat  and  pompous  host  with  a 
wholesome  faith  in  the  virtues  of  his  brew 
could  really  have  been  a  scoundrel  or  capable 
of  conspiring  with  footpads.  No !  Julius 
Caesar  was  a  better  judge  of  fat  human  nature 
than  Farquhar  !  Depend  upon  it,  Boniface 
slept  after  his  potations  the  sleep  of  an  honest 
man.  Just  listen  to  him  : 

Sir,  you  shall  taste  my  Anno  Domini,  I  have  lived 
in  Lichfield,  man  and  boy,  above  eight-and-fifty  years, 
and  I  believe  have  not  consumed  eight-and-fifty  ounces 
of  meat. 

Aimwell.  At  a  meal,  you  mean,  if  one  may  guess 
your  sense  by  your  bulk. 

Boniface.  Not  in  my  life,  Sir ;  I  have  fed  purely 
upon  ale  ;  I  have  ate  my  ale,  drank  my  ale,  and  I 
always  sleep  upon  ale. 

Enter  tapster  with  a  Tankard. 

Now,  sir,  you  shall  see ;  your  worship's  health ; 
Ha !  delicious,  delicious — fancy  it  Burgundy,  only 
fancy  it,  and  'tis  worth  ten  shillings  a  quart. 

Aimwell  (drinks).     'Tis  confounded  strong. 

Boniface.  Strong !  It  must  be  so ;  or  how  would 
we  be  strong  that  drink  it  ? 

Hawthorne  tried  hard  to  find  Mr.  Boniface's 
inn  at  Lichfield,  but  in  vain.  He  had  to 
content  himself  with  the  Black  Swan,  once 


The  Innkeeper  261 

owned  by  Dr.  Johnson.  Farquhar  was  care- 
ful not  to  indicate  the  particular  inn  referred 
to,  if  it  ever  existed  there.  Not  that  the 
dramatists  in  bygone  days  lived  in  fear 
of  a  libel  action.  Witness  a  farce  by  J.  M. 
Morton,  in  which  Mrs.  Fidget,  the  landlady 
of  the  Dolphin  at  Portsmouth,  is  most  cruelly 
pilloried  for  her  dishonesty  and  meanness.  In 
"Naval  Engagements"  Charles  Dance  portrays 
Mr.  Short  of  the  Fountain  in  the  same  town  as 
a .  scurvy  impudent  rascal,  taking  advantage 
of  customers  who  had  spent  the  night  not 
wisely  nor  too  well,  to  charge  them  for  an 
unordered  and  unserved  breakfast.  Short's 
sanctimonious  morality  and  his  devices  to 
detain  customers  in  a  hurry,  so  that  they  are 
compelled  to  stay  in  the  inn  for  dinner,  are  a 
valuable  humorous  element  of  this  play. 

Fielding's  innkeepers  are  all  exquisitely 
drawn,  -with  the  lifelike  touches  of  a  fine 
student  of  human  nature  in  its  infinite  variety. 
We  love  best  of  all  the  host  of  that  inn  where 
Parson  Adams  met  the  braggart,  untruthful 
squire  who  offered  him  a  fine  living  and  end- 
less other  benefits  without  the  slightest 
intention  of  fulfilling  his  promises.  Mine 
Host  stands  by  chuckling  inwardly  at  the  good 
jest  when  the  squire  undertakes  to  defray 


262  Old  Country  Inns 

the  bill  for  the  lodging  and  entertainment  of 
the  party.  Nor  does  he  lose  his  good-humour 
when  he  finds  next  morning  the  joke  turned 
against  himself  and  that  the  worthy  curate 
has  not  a  farthing  in  his  purse. 

'  Trust  you,  master  ?  that  I  will  with  all 
my  heart.  I  honour  the  clergy  too  much  to 
deny  trusting  one  of  them  for  such  a  trifle  ; 
besides,  I  like  your  fear  of  never  paying  me. 
I  have  lost  many  a  debt  in  my  lifetime  ; 
but  was  promised  to  be  paid  them  all  in  a  very 
short  time.  I  will  score  this  reckoning  for  the 
novelty  of  it ;  it  is  the  first,  I  do  assure  you, 
of  its  kind.  But  what  say  you,  master, 
shall  we  have  t'other  pot  before  we  part  ? 
It  will  waste  but  a  little  chalk  more  ;  and,  if 
you  never  pay  me  a  shilling,  the  loss  will  not 


ruin  me." 


By  way  of  contrast  we  are  given  the  terma- 
gant Mrs.  Tow-wouse,  whose  ill-temper  and 
selfish  grasping  ways  were  always  counteract- 
ing her  easy-going  spouse's  mild  attempts  in 
the  direction  of  generosity  : 

"  Mrs.  Tow-wouse  had  given  no  utterance 
to  the  sweetness  of  her  temper.  Nature  had 
taken  such  pains  in  her  countenance,  that 
Hogarth  himself  never  gave  more  expression 
to  a  picture.  Her  person  was  short,  thin,  and 


The  Innkeeper  263 

crooked ;  her  forehead  projected  in  the  middle 
and  thence  descended  in  a  declivity  to  the 
top  of  her  nose,  which  was  sharp  and  red, 
and  would  have  hung  over  her  lips,  had  not 
Nature  turned  up  the  end  of  it ;  her  lips  were 
two  bits  of  skin,  which,  whenever  she  spoke, 
she  drew  together  in  a  purse  ;  her  chin  was 
peaked ;  and  at  the  upper  end  of  that  skin 
which  composed  her  cheeks,  stood  two  bones, 
that  almost  hid  a  pair  of  small  red  eyes. 
Add  to  this  a  voice  most  wonderfully  adapted 
to  the  sentiments  it  was  to  convey,  being  both 
loud  and  hoarse." 

Surely  such  a  picture  is  worthy  of  being 
beside  Skelton's  description  of  the  frowsy 
ale  wife  of  Leatherhead. 

Dean  Swift  encountered  a  lady  of  the  same 
contrary  nature  at  the  Three  Crosses,  on  the 
road  between  Dunchurch  and  Daventry.  He 
left  his  opinion  of  his  hostess  on  one  of  the 
windows  : 

"  To  the  Landlord. 

There  hang  three  crosses  at  thy  door, 
Hang  up  thy  wife  and  she'll  make  four." 

And  here  we  may  be  permitted  to  introduce 
an  adventure  of  our  own.  A  party  of  three, 
we  were  engaged  on  a  walk  across  the  Dunes, 
near  Nieuport,  and  had  lost  our  way.  Flemish 

i&— (3344) 


264  Old  Country  Inns 

was  the  language  of  the  district,  and  this  in 
its  spoken  form  was  a  sealed  book  to  all  three. 
By  and  by  we  came  to  a  little  roadside 
estaminet  which  we  entered,  and  in  correct 
exercise -book  French  inquired  the  nearest 
way  to  Furnes.  The  proprietor  replied  by 
placing  before  us  three  large  glasses  of  the 
local  beverage.  It  was  a  hot,  dusty  day, 
we  were  thirsty  and  the  beer  light  and  harm- 
less. So  we  drank  it  and  then  again  inquired 
the  way  to  Furnes.  For  answer  our  glasses 
were  forthwith  refilled.  When  we  shook  our 
heads  in  dissent,  the  obliging  caterer  brought 
out  in  turn  every  different  kind  of  bottle 
and  brand  of  cigar  and  cigarette  the  estab- 
lishment could  muster.  It  was  no  good.  We 
did  not  wish  to  drink  or  smoke. 

He  was  perplexed  and  sat  down  for  a  few 
moments  to  scratch  his  head  and  ponder  over 
the  puzzling  problem.  At  last  he  decided 
to  do  what  many  wiser  men  before  have  done 
when  in  a  quandary  :  he  called  his  wife. 
Maybe  female  intuition  might  pierce  into  these 
mysteries  where  dull  reason  vainly  groped  in 
darkness. 

She  came,  pink  and  rosy  as  some  glorious 
dawn,  tripping  as  lightly  as  a  forty-eight  inch 
waist  and  a  weight  somewhere  near  fourteen 


The  Innkeeper  265 

stone  would  permit.  After  darting  a  scornful 
glance  at  her  lord  and  master  she  turned  to  us 
with  a  sweet  smile.  We  asked  in  Parisian 
tongue  the  nearest  way  to  Furnes.  In  a 
trice  she  placed  before  us  three  pint  glasses 
of  Flemish  white  beer.  We  manifested  our 
disapproval  very  strongly ;  we  did  not  want 
any  beer,  and  her  husband  watched  and 
smoked  his  pipe  with  a  cynical  grin  as  she 
brought  us,  in  vain,  the  bottles  and  various 
other  articles  from  the  shelves. 

Then  a  brilliant  idea  occurred  to  one  of  the 
trio.  After  all,  the  Flemish  language  is  only  a 
dialect  of  German !  So  in  truly  classic 
German  he  inquired  of  the  puzzled  dame — 
Would  she  kindly  tell  us  the  nearest  way  to 
Furnes  ? 

A  bright  smile  of  intelligence  illumined  her 
features.  She  understood  now  exactly  what 
we  wanted,  and  popping  into  the  kitchen 
behind,  she  soon  returned  with  three  steaming 
plates  full  of  most  delicious  hotch-potch  soup. 
There  were  haricots,  lentils,  cabbage  stumps, 
garlic,  chicken  bones,  sausages  and  other 
articles  unidentified  in  that  soup.  But  it 
was  appetising  ;  we  remembered  that  we  were 
hungry  from  a  long  walk  and  sat  down  and 
absorbed  it  with  a  good-will. 


266  Old  Country  Inns 

That  woman,  we  know  for  certain,  became 
our  devoted  friend  from  the  moment.  She 
will  never  forget  us.  She  demurred  very 
strongly  to  our  paying  anything  for  the 
refreshment,  and  tried  hard  to  force  three 
more  pints  of  that  terribly  mild  beer  on  us 
before  we  left.  Not  only  had  we  appreciated 
her  cooking  at  its  fullest  value — we  had  also 
proved  her  abilities  as  a  cosmopolitan  woman 
of  business — and,  depend  upon  it,  the  fact 
has  been  rubbed  into  her  partner  in  life  many 
times  since  then  ! 

But  of  worthy,  buxom  good-tempered  land- 
ladies there  is  always  a  plentiful  supply, 
faithful  and  true  in  the  defence  of  their 
friends,  like  the  good  widow  McCandlish  in 
"Guy  Mannering,"  or  beneficent  fairies,  ready 
to  adjust  the  difficulties  of  eloping  young 
couples  and  their  several  guardians  with  the 
delicacy  and  tact  of  a  Mrs.  Bartick. l  The 
fair  sex  have  usually  all  the  business  qualities 
for  the  conduct  of  a  good  inn,  and  when  with 
these  are  conjoined  kindness  of  disposition  the 
traveller  is  blest  indeed. 

Once  upon  a  time,  so  tradition  hath  it — 
there  was  a  barmaid  in  a  Westminster  tavern 

1 "  Three  Deep ;  or  All  on  the  Wing."  A  once  favourite 
farcical  play  by  Joseph  Lunn. 


The  Innkeeper  267 

who  married  her  master.  After  his  death,  she 
continued  to  carry  on  the  business,  and  had 
occasion  to  seek  the  advice  of  a  lawyer 
named  Hyde.  Mr.  Hyde  wooed  and  married 
her.  Then  Hyde  became  Lord  Chancellor 
and  was  ennobled  as  Lord  Clarendon.  Their 
daughter  married  the  Duke  of  York,  and  was 
the  mother  of  Mary  and  Anne  Stewart.  So 
the  landlady  of  an  inn  became  the  grand- 
mother of  two  queens.  Most  history  books 
are  content  to  describe  Lord  Clarendon's 
second  wife  as  the  daughter  of  Sir  Thomas 
Aylesbury ;  but  the  supporters  of  the 
traditional  view  maintain  that  this  was  an 
invention  of  the  Court  Party. 

We  have  not  yet  encountered  an  innkeeper 
exactly  of  the  same  type  as  old  John  Willet, 
of  the  Maypole  at  Chigwell,  that  "  burly 
large -headed  man  with  a  fat  face,  which 
betokened  profound  obstinacy  and  slowness  of 
apprehension,  combined  with  a  very  strong 
reliance  upon  his  own  merits/'  We  meet 
occasionally  in  other  walks  of  life  these  small- 
minded  individuals  whom  chance  has  endowed 
with  pride  pf  place  and  the  opportunity  to 
tyrannize  over  all  around  them.  Like  the 
sovereign  owner  of  the  ancient  hostelry  with 
its  "  huge  zigzag  chimneys  and  more  gable 


268  Old  Country  Inns 

ends  than  a  lazy  man  would  care  to  count  on  a 
sunny  day/'  not  to  speak  of  its  diamond-pane 
lattices  and  its  ceilings  blackened  by  the  hand 
of  time  and  heavy  with  massive  beams,  they 
imagine  that  their  reign  will  endure  to  the 
end.  Is  there  in  all  literature  a  more  pathetic 
piece  of  writing  than  that  in  which  Charles 
Dickens  depicts  the  humiliation  of  John 
Willet,  when  the  Gordon  rioters  invade  the 
Maypole,  and  the  fallen  tyrant  finds  himself 
"  sitting  down  in  an  armchair  and  watching 
the  destruction  of  his  property,  as  if  it  were 
some  queer  play  or  entertainment  of  an 
astonishing  and  stupefying  nature,  but  having 
no  reference  to  himself — that  he  could  make 
out— at  all?" 

Innkeepers  have  been  reckoned  among  the 
poets.  John  Taylor,  the  "  Water  Poet/'  so 
called  because  he  commenced  life  as  a  water- 
man, and  because  so  many  of  his  voluminous 
works  deal  with  aquatic  matters,  kept  a  tavern 
in  Phoenix  Alley,  Longacre.  Being  a  faithful 
royalist  he  set  up  the  sign  of  the  Mourning 
Crown  over  his  house  to  express  his  sorrow 
at  the  tragic  death  of  Charles  I,  but  was  com- 
pelled by  the  Parliament  to  take  it  down.  He 
replaced  it  with  his  own  portrait  and  the 
following  lines : 


The  Innkeeper  269 

"  There  is  many  a  head  hangs  for  a  sign ; 
Then,  gentle  reader,  why  not  mine  ?  " 

The  episode  is  commemorated  in  a  rhyming 
pamphlet  issued  by  him  at  the  same  time  : 

"  My  signe  was  once  a  Crowne,  but  now  it  is 
Changed  by  a  sudden  metamorphosis. 
The  Crowne  was  taken  downe,  and  in  the  stead 
Is  placed  John  Taylor's  or  the  Poet's  Head." 

Of  Taylor's  works,  the  mere  enumeration  of 
which  occupies  eight  closely  printed  pages  in 
"Lownde's  Bibliographer's  Manual/' the  best 
known  are  his  "  Prayse  of  Cleane  Linen/' 
and  "  The  Pennyless  Pilgrimage,"  descriptive 
of  a  journey  on  foot  from  London  to  Edin- 
burgh, "  not  carrying  any  money  to  and  fro, 
neither  begging,  borrowing  or  asking  meat, 
drink  or  lodging."  In  1620,  he  made  a  similar 
journey  from  London  to  Prague,  and  published 
an  account  of  it. 

Scarcely  less  eminent  in  his  way  was  Ned 
Ward,  the  "  Publican  Poet,"  immortalised  in 
the  "  Dunciad."  His  works  are  scurrilous 
and  coarse,  yet  not  to  be  despised  by  students 
of  London  topography  in  the  reign  of  Queen 
Anne.  His  writings  in  the  London  Spy 
describe  the  London  taverns  and  inns  of 
his  day,  and  he  produced  several  imitations 
of  Butler's  "Hudibras,"  including  a  versified 


270  Old  Country  Inns 

translation  of  "Don  Quixote/'  and  "Hudibras 
Redivivus."  The  latter  work  obtained  for  its 
author  the  privilege  of  standing  twice  in  the 
pillory  and  of  paying  a  fine  of  forty  marks. 
His  inn  stood  in  Woodbridge  Street,  Clerken- 
well,  and  his  poetical  invitation  to  customers 
includes  a  reference  to  the  Red  Bull  Theatre, 
close  by,  made  famous  by  Shakespeare  and 
Edward  Alleyn,  the  founder  of  Dulwich 
College  : 

"  There  on  that  ancient,  venerable  ground, 
Where  Shakespeare  in  heroic  buskins  trod, 
Within  a  good  old  fabrick  may  be  found 
Celestial  liquors,  fit  to  charm  a  god." 

Very  different  was  the  side  in  politics 
favoured  by  Sam  House,  "  the  patriotic 
publican/'  Apprenticed  as  a  brewhouse 
cooper,  his  active  industrious  habits  enabled 
him,  when  only  twenty-five  years  of  age,  to 
lease  an  inn  at  the  corner  of  Peter  Street, 
Wardour  Street,  Soho,  called  the  Gravel  Pits, 
which  name  he  changed  to  the  Intrepid  Foxy 
or  The  Cap  of  Liberty.  In  1763  he  very  warmly 
espoused  the  cause  of  John  Wilkes,  and  sold 
his  beer  at  threepence  a  pot  in  honour  of  the 
champion  of  freedom.  Of  unflinching  politi- 
cal integrity,  Sam  House  was  in  most  respects 
a  well-meaning,  good-hearted  man,  with  but 


The  Innkeeper  271 

one  reprehensible  vice — a  habit  of  swearing 
most  horribly,  no  matter  what  the  company. 
Many  are  the  unprintable  anecdotes  related 
with  regard  to  this  failing,  when  the  most 
exalted  personages  were  conversing  with  him. 
Another  eccentric  feature  of  his  character  was 
illustrated  when  he  had  laid  a  wager  with  a 
young  man  to  race  him  in  Oxford  Road. 
Just  when  his  victory  seemed  assured,  a 
mischievous  wag  in  the  crowd  suddenly 

shouted,  "  D n  Fox  and  all  his  friends,  say 

I  ! ):  Forthwith  Sam  forgot  all  about  his 
race,  and  regardless  of  protests  from  his 
backers,  turned  round  and  administered  a 
sound  drubbing  to  the  blasphemer.  This 
gave  great  amusement  to  the  spectators, 
but  meanwhile  his  rival  had  passed  the 
winning-post.  Sam  cheerfully  paid  the 
penalty,  consoling  himself  that  he  had  lost 
the  race  in  a  good  cause,  while  avenging  an 
insult  to  his  political  idol. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

PUBLIC-HOUSE   REFORM 

"  NOTHING  suits  worse  with  vice  than  want 
of  sense/'  remarked  Sir  Harry  Wilding  in  the 
"  Constant  Couple/1  For  vice  we  might  read 
benevolence  and  find  the  maxim  equally 
appropriate.  Good  judgment  is  especially 
needful  in  that  kind  of  philanthropy  so  much 
in  vogue  at  the  present  time,  wherein  one  class 
of  the  community  interests  itself  in  improving 
the  condition  of  another  class  with  which  it 
is  imperfectly  acquainted. 

Take,  for  instance,  the  housing  of  the  work- 
ing classes.  A  committee  of  maiden  ladies 
meet  together  and  engage  the  services  of  some 
clever  young  architect.  The  local  land- 
owner finds  the  funds,  and  very  soon  a  row 
of  cottages  has  been  built  of  dainty  pictur- 
esque appearance,  and  everything  inside  them 
equally  lovely.  The  sanitation  is  of  the  latest, 
the  rooms  are  light  and  airy.  All  sorts  of 
clever  devices  are  introduced  to  economize 
space,  nice  cupboards,  economical  cooking 
stoves  with  every  appliance  to  delight  the 

272 


Public-House  Reform  273 

housewife,  and  even  a  bath  artfully  hidden 
beneath  a  trap-door  just  in  front  of  the 
kitchen  fire.  There  is  even  high  art  decora- 
tion approved  by  the  Kyrle  Society.  In 
short,  these  cottages  would  be  a  joy  and  a 
treasure  if  only  the  ungrateful  labourer  would 
consent  to  leave  his  insanitary  hovel  and  come 
and  take  up  his  abode  therein.  He  emphati- 
cally declines  to  do  so  because  they  contain 
no  "  best  room/' 

The  committee  of  maiden  ladies  are  very 
indignant  at  the  idea  of  the  working  man 
insisting  on  his  best  room,  an  apartment 
which  remains  hermetically  closed  from  week- 
end to  week-end,  reserved  only  as  a  shrine 
for  the  family  Bible  and  for  the  reception  of  a 
few  highly -favoured  visitors.  He  ought,  they 
contend,  to  be  satisfied  with  the  big  airy 
living-room,  specially  designed  for  his  family, 
and  has  no  business  to  complain  that  his  little 
heirlooms  will  be  at  the  mercy  of  inquisitive 
and  mischievous  children.  But  it  will  be  a 
bad  day  for  England  when  the  "  best  room  " 
disappears  from  the  artisan's  home.  It  is 
by  long  tradition  his  castle,  his  secret  keep, 
the  innermost  temple  of  his  religion.  Every 
patriotic  instinct  of  the  poor  man  has  its 
centre  within  that  little  stuffy  apartment. 


274  Old  Country  Inns 

Home  to  the  working  man  means  the  best 
room.  The  safety  of  the  best  room  justifies 
all  the  national  expenditure  on  a  standing 
army  and  a  huge  navy.  In  the  defence  of  that 
best  room  he  is  prepared  to  send  his  sons  to  lay 
their  bones  in  some  nameless  soldier's  grave 
in  the  most  distant  corner  of  the  empire. 
Take  away  the  best  room  and  the  wage-earner 
has  no  home  worth  either  working  for  or 
fighting  for.  He  becomes  an  atheist,  an 
anarchist,  and  a  general  outcast. 

A  similar  lack  of  appreciation  of  human 
nature  is  shown  by  certain  philanthropists  in 
dealing  with  the  use  by  working  men  of  the 
public -house  as  a  place  of  resort.  How 
much  better,  they  urge,  if  the  workman 
would  spend  his  time  in  more  intellectual 
surroundings — in  reading  rooms,  popular 
lectures  or  entertainments,  Christian  en- 
deavour societies,  etc.,  etc.  And  so  they 
exert  all  their  influence  over  licensing  justices, 
the  police  and  other  authorities,  inciting 
them  to  make  the  public -house  as  uncomfort- 
able as  possible  ;  with  the  result  that  a  series 
of  very  undesirable  institutions  having  all 
the  worst  qualities  of  the  gin  palace,  without 
its  publicity  or  proper  means  of  supervision, 
are  coming  into  existence.  Penny  readings, 


Public-House  Reform  275 

lectures,  and  other  religious  or  educational 
centres  are  well  enough  in  their  way  ;  but  the 
man  of  few  home  resources  yearns  for  the 
gossip  of  the  alehouse.  Only  there  can  he 
find  what  the  soul  of  every  human  being  longs 
for,  the  company  of  his  own  kind,  and  recrea- 
tion and  amusement  which  he  himself  can 
assist  in  supplying. 

Still,  if  it  is  to  continue,  the  public-house 
must  be  reformed  and  improved  in  some  way 
to  satisfy  the  national  conscience.  And  a 
book  of  this  kind  seems  to  be  incomplete 
unless  it  contains  some  suggestions  as  to  the 
direction  in  which  reform  ought  to  proceed. 

In  the  first  place,  we  would  urge  the  inex- 
pediency of  any  further  legislation.  Any- 
body, who  as  a  parish  worker  or  as  an  employer 
of  labour  has  interested  himself  in  a  model 
public -house,  will  agree  with  us  in  this.  No 
other  institution  in  the  country  is  so  hopelessly 
law-ridden  and  police -ridden.  We  might 
make  an  exception  in  the  case  of  the  licence 
itself.  All  taxation  of  alcoholic  liquors  should 
be  direct  and  should  be  levied  at  the  fountain 
head — whether  distiller,  brewer  or  importer. 
The  licence  for  retailing  such  liquors 
should  be  a  moderate  and  fixed  amount  like 
all  other  licences.  Why  the  publican  should 


276  Old  Country  Inns 

be  penalised  at  so  high  a  rate,  when  the  grocer, 
whose  annual  sales  often  exceed  those  of  all 
the  public-houses  in  the  district  combined, 
is  let  off  with  a  nominal  sum,  passes  all 
comprehension . 

To  impose  a  high  licence  on  the  hotel  or 
tavern-keeper  is,  in  the  opinion  of  those  who 
have  studied  the  subject  carefully,  a  mistake 
both  economically  and  morally.  First,  be- 
cause a  large  and  increasing  portion  of  his 
sales  consists  in  wares  which  the  outside 
dealer  supplies  without  the  necessity  of  either 
tax  or  licence.  Secondly,  there  is  a  serious 
temptation  offered  to  the  publican  to  recoup 
the  high  expenditure  on  his  licence  by 
inducing  his  customers  to  drink.  And  it  is 
most  important  that  men  of  the  highest 
character  and  responsibility  should  be 
encouraged  to  take  office  as  innkeepers  and 
publicans.  This  can  hardly  be  the  case 
while  the  high  licence  adds  so  seriously  to  the 
amount  of  unremunerative  capital  required 
for  embarking  in  the  business.  No  other 
trade  is  handicapped  by  such  an  iniquitous 
impost. 

We  must  not,  of  course,  shirk  that  ugly 
word,"  monopoly  value/'  introduced  by  the 
Licensing  Act  of  1902.  But  it  is  a  monopoly 


Public-House  Reform  277 

of  dwindling  value  riddled  by  half  a  dozen 
competing  agencies  and  minimised  by  all  sorts 
of  vexatious  restrictions.  Sunday  trading 
is  not  a  desirable  thing,  but  a  visit  to  any 
favourite  suburban  resort  on  Sunday  morning 
reveals  a  state  of  affairs  only  to  be  paralleled 
in  Gilbertian  comic  opera.  Tobacconists, 
sweet-stuff  shops,  tea  gardens  and  enterprising 
Italian  caterers  are  all  doing  a  roaring  trade 
without  let  or  hindrance.  Meanwhile  the 
"  Licensed  Victualler/1  who  pays  so  high  a 
price  for  his  "  monopoly  "  as  a  purveyor  of 
refreshments,  is  compelled  on  pain  of  extinc- 
tion to  keep  his  doors  bolted  and  barred 
against  all  but  the  few  hardy  souls  who 
have  accomplished  the  Sabbath  Day's 
journey. 

There  is  an  underworld  in  the  drink  trade. 
Provincial  allotment  holders  never  seem  to 
lack  a  good  supply  of  the  national  beverage 
on  Sunday  mornings ;  it  does  not  flow  from 
the  local  alehouse.  Quarterns  of  gin  and 
whisky  are  obtainable  in  London  from  some 
unknown  sources  at  all  hours  of  the  night. 
One  of  the  authors,  associated  for  many  years 
with  a  famous  church  in  the  poorer  districts 
of  central  London,  made  some  astonishing 
discoveries  with  regard  to  this  illicit  drink 


278  Old  Country  Inns 

traffic.  Most  of  it  is  the  direct  out- 
come of  the  oppressive  one-sided  licensing 
laws. 

On  the  liquor  question  itself,  we  would 
suggest  that  the  tax  on  beer  should  be  gradu- 
ated, and  a  comparatively  light  duty  be  im- 
posed on  beer  guaranted  to  be  brewed  entirely 
from  malt  and  hops,  and  containing  only  the 
small  proportion  of  alcohol  necessary  to  carry 
the  phosphates — say  not  more  than  four  per 
cent.  We  believe  that  the  revenue  would 
not  ultimately  lose  much  by  this  concession, 
while  the  result  of  its  general  adoption  as  a 
beverage  would  be  highly  beneficial.  No 
better  preventative  could  be  imagined  against 
nervous  depression,  the  great  curse  of  modern 
life,  and  the  real  cause  of  the  drink  and  drug- 
taking  habits — than  a  revival  of  the  good 
old  English  mild  ale  such  as  our  fore- 
fathers brewed  in  the  pre-reformation 
Church  Houses. 

We  have  already  referred  to  the  work  of  the 
Public  Refreshment  House  Association,  and 
much  good  is  bound  to  result  from  the  efforts 
of  this  body  in  improving  the  status  of  the 
public-house.  Its  methods  and  the  rules  laid 
down  for  the  management  of  the  houses  under 
its  control  are  worthy  of  all  praise.  The 


Public-House    Reform  279 

foresight  and  self-denial  of  its  directorate  are 
especially  commendable,  in  that  the  society 
seeks  to  co-operate  in  the  formation  of  separate 
county  trusts,  rather  than  to  aggrandize  itself 
by  acquiring  an  unlimited  number  of  licences. 
The  danger  of  a  gigantic  trust,  as  of  a  national 
monopoly,  would  be  that  enormous  power 
might,  in  the  second  generation,  fall  into  the 
hands  of  an  ambitious  and  tyrannical  central 
staff.  One  fear  only  we  have  with  regard 
to  the  P.R.H.A.  Its  establishments  are  so 
attractive  and  altogether  so  desirable,  that  like 
all  philanthropic  efforts  they  will  end  by 
benefiting  a  higher  class  than  was  at  first 
intended.  The  lady  cyclist  and  the  week- 
ender will  avail  themselves  of  their  advantages 
rather  than  the  rural  labourer.  And  we  hope 
that  the  wise  authorities  at  headquarters  will 
guard  against  this  difficulty  by  encouraging 
games,  and  providing  magazines  for  the  users 
of  the  tap-room. 

A  worthy  country  cleric  of  our  acquaintance 
takes  exception  to  the  preferential  commission 
which  the  Association  allows  to  its  local 
managers  in  order  to  push  the  sale  of  temper- 
ance drinks.  He  urges  that  no  temperance 
drink  has  hitherto  been  invented  which  is 
either  thirst  quenching  or  wholesome.  The  tea 

19— (2244) 


280  Old  Country  Inns 

and  coffee  habit  would  end  by  making  the 
villager  as  neurotic  as  his  cockney  cousin. 
Aerated  waters,  flavoured  with  narcotic  drugs 
and  saturated  with  gaseous  mineral  carbonic 
dioxide,  put  a  severe  strain  on  the  action  of 
the  heart ;  fruit  syrups  are  doctored  with 
nerve -destroying  formaline  to  prevent  natural 
fermentation.  Even  the  popular  ginger  beer 
and  ginger  ale  are  not  unimpeachable.  Ginger 
is  a  drug  injurious  to  the  coating  of  the 
stomach ;  and  in  some  modern  brands  the 
more  poisonous  capsicum  is  employed  as  a 
cheaper  substitute. 

But  on  general  grounds,  we  think  this 
encouragement  of  temperance  drinks  is  alto- 
gether a  judicious  move.  The  public-house 
exists  for  the  benefit  and  use  of  all  classes  and 
sections  of  the  community  ;  the  teetotaller 
has  as  much  right  there  as  anybody  else,  and 
it  is  desirable  that  he  should  exercise  that 
right  as  frequently  as  possible.  The  popular 
idea  that  the  tavern  is  only  a  place  for  the 
consumption  of  certain  alcoholic  drinks  must 
be  dispelled  ;  such  liquors  have  to  be  on  sale 
there  merely  because  a  large  majority  of 
Englishmen  habitually  desire  them  as  bever- 
ages, and  it  is  not  the  duty  of  those  in  charge 
to  decide  whether  they  shall,  or  shall  not, 


CQ 


Public-House  Reform  281 

continue  to  do  so.  Wine,  beer  and  spirits  are 
an  essential  part,  but  still  only  one  department 
of  the  tavern-keeper's  business. 

Village  trusts  have  been  introduced  with 
success  in  some  rural  districts.  A  body  of 
trustees  is  elected  by  the  whole  parish  for  a 
term  of  years,  on  much  the  same  lines  as  the 
Parish  Council.  Management  on  a  democratic 
basis  has  its  good  points,  if  only  the  natives 
can  be  roused  to  take  a  keen  interest  in  the 
subject.  But  all  these  revolutionary  dis- 
placements of  "  the  trade  "  are  unnecessary. 
The  good  conduct  of  the  public -house  depends 
not  so  much  on  those  who  manage  it  as  on 
those  who  habitually  use  it,  and  on  the  growth 
of  a  healthy  national  appreciation  of  its  value. 
If  only  men  of  good-will  made  it  a  rule  to  visit 
from  time  to  time  the  various  licensed  houses 
of  the  neighbourhood,  their  very  presence 
would  be  a  wonderful  help  to  the  cause  of 
morality.  A  good  understanding  with  the 
landlord  should  be  established,  and  then 
suggestions  for  the  improvement  of  the  house 
quietly  and  considerately  discussed  with  him. 
We  know  of  parish  priests  who,  facing 
sneers  about  "  Beer  and  Bible/'  have  pursued 
this  course,  and  their  efforts  have  brought 
blessing  and  reward.  But  it  must  be 


282  Old   Country  Inns 

understood  that  all  genuine  progress  is  slow. 
The  Public  -house  is  not  so  much  the  moulder 
as  the  index  of  public  morals ;  and  any 
violent  attempts  at  reforming  it  are  as  absurd 
as  to  manipulate  a  barometer  with  a  view  to 
improving  the  weather. 

In  a  recent  speech  the  Bishop  of  Birming- 
ham cited  as  his  ideal  of  the  public-house,  an 
establishment  in  Barcelona  which  he  had 
visited  several  times,  and  which  struck  him  as 
being  specially  delightful.  He  described  it  as 
an  immense  room  in  which  there  must  have 
been  about  a  thousand  people.  They  were 
of  all  classes  ;  a  good  many  of  them  were 
artisans  who  wore  their  blouses,  and  they  were 
there  with  their  wives  and  children  constantly. 
They  were  drinking  all  sorts  of  things — beer, 
wine,  tea,  coffee,  or  milk,  and  some  of  them 
were  drinking  a  peculiar  compound  of  a  kind 
of  pink  colour,  the  nature  of  which  he  was  not 
able  to  ascertain  through  an  imperfect  know- 
ledge of  the  language.  There  was  rather  a 
good  band,  but  one  could  not  hear  it  much 
because  all  were  talking  and  laughing  and 
making  themselves  extremely  agreeable  to 
one  another.  He  asked  himself  every  time 
he  went  there — Was  not  that  type  of  place  of 
public  resort,  public  refreshment,  and  public 


Public-House  Reform  283 

amusement  entirely  desirable  ?  He  had  been 
there  on  Sundays  and  week-days,  and  he 
never  felt  that  he  had  seen  or  heard  anything 
that  was  not  entirely  desirable.  Every  time 
he  went  there — and  he  could  find  the  same 
thing  in  other  countries  and  cities — he  said 
to  himself  :  What  was  there  in  the  nature  of 
things  why  we  could  not  have  exactly  this 
kind  of  place  of  public  amusement  and  recrea- 
tion— this  kind  of  public-house  with  regard 
to  which  they  would  not  feel  the  slightest 
desire  for  any  legislation  to  restrict  the 
opportunity  of  women  or  children  or  of 
anybody  else  going  into  it  ? 

There  are  several  public-houses  in  England 
where  the  presence  of  an  enlightened  thinker 
like  Dr.  Gore  would  be  welcomed.  One  in 
particular  occurs  to  us  as  we  write — the  Ship 
at  Ospringe,  near  Faversham.  The  climate 
of  the  Swale  marshes  will  not  admit  of  a  hall 
to  contain  over  a  thousand  people,  but  here 
there  is  a  room  which  on  Saturday  nights 
might  contain  any  number  up  to  a  hundred 
and  fifty.  There  is  no  band — the  police 
would  speedily  interfere  at  the  first  trumpet 
blare  ;  nor  any  children — thanks  to  a  recent 
Act  of  Parliament.  But  his  lordship  would 
find  a  happy  good-humoured  company,  young 


284  Old  Country   Inns 

men  and  old,  wives  and  sweethearts,  some 
drinking  beer,  some  lemonade,  young  girls 
eating  their  supper  of  bread  and  cheese  or  fish, 
all  engaged  in  merry  converse,  or  listening 
with  uncritical  good-nature  to  songs  and 
recitations  provided  by  such  among  their 
number  as  are  inclined  to  oblige.  If  a  pianist 
happens  to  turn  up,  so  much  the  better ; 
otherwise  the  vocalist  does  his  best  without 
accompaniment.  All  is  homely  and  hearty. 
We  have  visited  the  Ship  many  times  and 
never  perceived  any  signs  of  objectionable 
conduct.  If  it  lacks  any  of  the  advantages 
of  its  Barcelona  rival,  we  must  blame  the  law 
and  the  licensing  authorities — certainly  not 
the  institution. 

In  Spain,  as  in  Germany,  the  inn  or  the 
tavern  is  regarded  as  an  essential  element  of 
civic  life,  not  as  a  place  to  be  discouraged  and 
despised.  A  century  or  two  ago  all  good  and 
respectable  Britons  avoided  the  theatre,  and 
the  drama  in  England  became  a  byword  for 
immorality  and  licentiousness.  A  better 
spirit  arose  ;  churchmen  and  ladies  of  refine- 
ment interested  themselves  in  the  theatre  ; 
the  ban  was  removed,  and  now  we  can  take 
our  sisters,  cousins  and  aunts  to  see  an  English 
play  without  fear  of  incurring  their  reproaches. 


Angel  Inn,    Woolhampton 


286  Old   Country  Inns 

Perchance,  also,  a  new  era  may  await  the 
public -house,  and  its  value  as  an  educative 
and  steadying  influence  on  the  democracy 
will  be  understood. 

We  live  in  the  midst  of  a  period  when  great 
revolutionary  changes  are  impending.     Never 
before  has  the  struggle  for  existence  among  the 
masses  been  so  keenly  felt,  or  the  cruel  differ- 
ences  of   opportunity  of  rich  and  poor   so 
widely  ventilated.    Class  privilege  and  hered- 
itary endowment  seem  alike  destined  for  the 
melting-pot.     What  will  emerge  none  can  tell. 
We  have  shown  how  in  previous  ages,  when- 
ever there  were  great  political  or  social  changes, 
the  tavern  played  its  part.     Within  the  doors 
of   the    public-house    all  men  are  brethren. 
There  alone  class  can  meet  class  and  discuss 
their  difficulties  freely  and  even  dispassion- 
ately.    Society  has  too  long  left  the  lower 
orders  to  estimate  the  advantage  of  culture 
from   its    Tony    Lumpkins.     It   is    a    great 
opportunity.     The  venerable  house  of  call, 
bequeathed  to  us  by  the  ages,  beckons  all 
to  come  within  its  kindly  shelter,  out  of  the 
storms  of  class  hatred  and  political  prejudice. 
Churlish  and  short-sighted  indeed  will  those 
be  who  reject  the  invitation. 

For,  after  all,  the  old  antiquary  whom  we 


Public-House  Reform 


287 


met  with  in  the  chapter  on  the  Church  Inns 
was  right.  The  keynote  of  the  public -house 
and  its  true  purpose  in  life  is  Christian 
Charity.  Charity  which  suffereth  long  and 
is  kind,  bearing  all  things,  envying  not,  nor 
believing  any  evil ;  and  without  which  we 
are  nothing.  The  greatest  thing  in  Earth  or 
Heaven. 


INDEX 


A  eland  Arms,  Exmoor,   188 
Addington,  Angel,  23 
Albion,  South  Norwood,   131 
Alfriston,  Star,  24,  201 
Anchor,  Hartfield,  78,   142 

Liphook,  133 

Angel,  Addington,  23 

Basingstoke,  23 

-  Bury  St.  Edmunds,  23 

Grantham,  23 

Guildford,  23 

Islington,  24 

Theale,  175 

Woolhampton,  285 

Antelope,  Godalming,  116 
Ashbourne,    Green    Man    and 

Black's  Head,  171 
Ash  Vale,  Swan,  143 
Aylesbury,  George,  159 

King's  Head,  59,  195 

Bagworth,  Maynard  Arms,  236 
Barking,  Bull,  18,  22 
Barley,  Fox  and  Hounds,  165 
Barley  Mow,  Hartford,  79 
Basingstoke,  Angel,  23 
Battersea,  Falcon,  122 
Bear,  Chelsham,   174 

Maidenhead,  126 

Southwark,  20 

Wantage,  174 

Bear  and  Ragged  Staff,  Cumnor, 

124 

Bee  Hive,  Grantham,  168 
Bell,  Edenbridge,  171 

Edmonton,  154 

Epping,  234 

Finedon,  77 

Westminster,  77 

Warwick  Lane,  77 

Bermondsey,  Simon  the  Tanner, 

61 


Bettws-y-Coed,  Royal  Oak,  157 
Birdbrook,  Plough,  243 
Bird  in  Hand,  Bromley,  139 
Bishop  Blaise,  New  Inn  Yard, 

61 

Black  Bear,  Devizes,  151 
Black  Lion,  Walsingham,  115, 

151 

Black  Swan,  Lichfield,  260 
Bletchingley,  White  Hart,  146 
Blue  Boar,  Leicester,  117 
Blue  Cap,  Sandiway,  140 
Book    in  Hand,   Mabelthorpe, 

166 

Bournville  Public  House,  236 
Bracknell,  Hind's  Head,  187 
Brentford,  Three  Pigeons,  153 
Brentwood,  White  Hart,  41,  42, 

199 

Bricklayers'  Arms,  Caxton,  61 
Bridge    Inn,     Port     Sunlight, 

236 

Brighton,  Old  Steyne,  216 
Broadway,  Lygon  Arms,  244 
Bull,  Barking,  18,  22 

Coventry,  133 

Dartford,  18,  87 

Long    Melford,    21,    87, 

197 

Mailing,  18 

Newington,  19 

Reading,  19 

Rochester,  22,  204 

St.  Albans.  21 

Sudbury,  198 

Theale,  18 

Woodbridge,  150 

Bull   and   Bush,    Hampstead, 

148 
Bull  and  Mouth,  St.  Martins  le 

Grand,  82,  127 
Bury  St.  Edmunds,  Angel,  23 


289 


290 


Index 


CfBsar's    Head,   Great   Palace 

Yard,  112 
Canterbury,  Chequers,   106 

Falstaff,  152 

Fountain,  1 

Castle,  Hurst,  75 

Marlborough,  91 

Castleton,  George  and  Dragon, 

234 
Caxton,  Bricklayers'  Arms,  61 

George,  86 

Chelsham,  Bear,  174 
Chequers,  Canterbury,  106 

Doddington,  107 

Loose,  107 

St.  Albans,  107 

Slapestones,  110 

Chester,  King  Edgar,  112 
Chiddingfold,  Crown,  208 
Chigwell,  King's  Head,  158 
Clare,':  Swan,  175 
Clothiers'  Arms,  Stroud,  235 
Coach   and   Horses,  Westmin- 
ster, 86 

Coal  Hole,  Strand,  236 
Cock,  Fleet  Street,  24 
Cock  and  Bell,  Romford,  79 
Cock    and   Tabard,    Westmin- 
ster, 23 

Colnbrook,  Ostrich,  37,   188 
Combe    St.     Nicholas,     Green 

Dragon,  240 

Copt  Hall,  London,  E.C.,   236 
Coventry,  Bull,    133 
Crown,  Chiddingfold,  208 

Dartford,  126 

Hempstead,  151 

Ospringe,  37 

Rochester,  1 

Shipton  -  under  -  Wych  - 

wood,  199 

Crown  and  Treaty,  Uxbridge, 

133 
Cumnor,  Bear  and  Ragged  Staff, 

124 

Dartford,  Bull,  18,  87 

Crown,  126 

Derby,  Dolphin,  100 


Derby,  Nottingham   Castle,  99 
Devizes,   Black    Bear,    151 
Doddington,  Chequers,  107 
Dog  and  Doublet,  Sandon,  236 
Dolphin,  Derby,  100 

Portsmouth,  261 

Dorking,  White  Horse,  26 

Gun,  123 

Dorset  Arms,  Withyham,  107 
Duck    in    the    Pond,    Harrow 

Weald,  236 
Duke     of     Wellington,     High 

Beech,  178 

Edenbridge,  Bell,  171 
Edmonton,  Bell,  154 
Elephant  and  Castle,  London, 

S.E.,  64,  163 
Elm  Tree,  Oxford,  236 
Elmers'  End,  William  IV,  235 
Elmesthorpe,  Wentworth  Arms, 

236 
Enfield,   King  James  and  the 

Tinker,  126 
Epping,  Bell,  234 

Falcon,  Battersea,  122 
Falstaff,  Canterbury,  152 

Gad's  Hill,  152 

Newington,  153 

Farnham,  Jolly  Farmer,  151 
Faversham,  Fleur  de  Lis,  123 
Feathers,  Ludlow,  204,  244 
Peering,  Sun,  199 
Felstead,  Swan,  51,  75 
Fighting  Cocks,  St.  Albans,  2 
Finedon,  Bell,  77 

First  and  Last,  Sennen,  162 
Fittleworth,  Old  Swan,  158 
Five  Alls,  Marlborough,   176 
Fleur  de  Lis,  Faversham,  123 
Flyford  Flavel,   Union,  239 
Fountain,   Canterbury,    1 

Portsmouth,  261 

Four  Swans,  Waltham  Cross. 

171 

Fox  and  Hounds,  Barley,  165 
Fox  and  Pelican,   Haslemere, 

231 


Index 


291 


George,  Aylesbury,   159 

Caxton,  86 

Glastonbury,  39,  199 

Hayes,  158,  236 

Huntingdon,  78 

Rochester,  37 

St.  Albans,  39 

Southwark,  87 

Winchester,  54 

Wymondham,  39 

George  and  Dragon,  Castleton, 

234 

Wargrave,  158 

General  Wolfe,  Westerham,  131, 

180 

Gipsy  Queen,  Norwood,  131 
Glastonbury,  George,  39,  199 
Gloucester,  New  Inn,  32,  87, 

199 

Goat  House,  Norwood,  206 
Godalming,  Antelope,  116 

King's  Arms,  10 

Three  Lions,  11 

Godstone,  Clayton  Arms,  208 
Golden  Fleece,    South   Weald, 

63 

Golden  Lion,  St.  Ives,  87 
Green     Dragon,     Combe     St. 

Nicholas,  240 
Green    Man,     Croydon,     Dul- 

wich,  Leytonstone,  65 

Tunstall,  236 

Green  Man  and  Black's  Head, 

Ashbourne,  171 
Grantham,  Angel,  23 

Beehive,  168 

Blue  Inns,  168 

Greyhound,  Strand,  235 
Guildford,  Angel,  23 

White  Hart,  41 

White  Lion,  117 

Gun,  Dorking,  123 

Half  Brick,  Worthing,  169 
Hampton  -  on  -  Thames,     Red 

Lion,  114 
Harrow   Weald,    Duck    in   the 

pond,  236 
Hartfield«  Anchor,  78,  142 


Haslemere,  Fox  and  Pelican, 
231 

Hawkhurst,  Queen's  Hotel,  142 

Hemel  Hempstead,  King's 
Arms,  x 

Hempstead,  Crown,  151 

Henley-in-Arden,  White  Swan, 
154 

Henley-on-Thames,  Red  Lion, 
154 

Hereford,  Raven,  151 

High  Beech,  Duke  of  Welling- 
ton, 178 

High  Easter,  Punch  Bowl,  74, 
76 

Hind's  Head,  Bracknell,   187 

Hole  in  the  Wall,  Borough,  169 

Waterloo  Station,  169 

Hollingbourne,   Windmill,  179 
Holy    Blaise,     Kidderminster, 

61 

Honest  Miller,  Wye,   168 
Horse  and  Groom,  Waltham  St. 

Lawrence,  136 

Hundred  House,  Purslow,  236 
Huntingdon,  George,  78,  87 

Queen's  Head,  79 

Hurst,  Castle,  75 

Isaac  Walton,  Ashbourne,  144 
Islington,  Angel,  24 

Pied  Bull,   120 

Queen's  Head,  120 

Sir  Hugh  Middleton,  120 

Jack  of  Newbury,  Reading,  131 
Jack    Straw's    Castle,    Hamp- 

stead,  126 

Jolly  Farmer,  Farnham,  151 
Jolly  Sailor,  South  Norwood, 

131 

Kelvedon,  Wheatsheaf,  151 
Kentish    Drovers,    Old    Kent 

Road,  177 

King  Edgar,  Chester,  112 
King  James   and  the   Tinker, 

Enfield,  126 
King's  Arms,  Godalming,  10 


292 


Index 


King's  Arms,  Hemel  Hemp- 
stead,  x 

King's  Head,  Aylesbury,  59, 
195 

Chigwell,  158 

Roehampton,  118 

King's  Heath,  Red  Lion,  236 
Kingsbury,  Plough,  109 
Kidderminster,    Holy    Blaise, 

61 

Lamb,  Eastbourne,  77 

Lamb  and  Anchor,  Bristol,  78 

Lamb  and  Flag,  Brighton,  78 

Sudbury,   Swindon,   78 

Leicester,  Blue  Boar,  117 
Lichfield,   Black    Swan,  261 
Lickfold,  Three  Horseshoes,  108 
Lincoln,  Reindeer,  138 

Lip  hook,  Anchor,  133 

Lisle  Castle,  Chalk,  Gravesend, 

208 
Long    Melford,  Bull,    21,    87, 

197 

Loose,  Chequers,  107 
Loughton,   Wheatsheaf,  234 
Ludlow,  Feathers,  204,  244 
Lurgashall,  Noah's  Ark,  207 
Lygon  Arms,  Broadway,  244 

Mabelthorpe,   Book   in  Hand, 

166 

Maidenhead,  Bear,  126 
Maid's   Head,    Norwich,    202, 

245 

Maidstone,  Nelson,  129 
Mailing,  Bull,  18 
Manchester,  Seven  Stars,  1 
Marlborough,  Castle,  91 

Five  Alls,  176 

Marquis  of  Granby,  Deptford, 

145 

Epsom,  128 

Martlesham,  Red  Lion,  174 
Maynard  Arms,  Bagworth,  236 
Midhurst,  Spread  Eagle,  7 
Monster,  Pimlico,  161 

Nelson,  Maidstone,  129 


Newark,  Ossington,  236 

Saracen's  Head,  1 

Newington,  Bull,   19 

Falstaff,  153 

New  Inn,  Gloucester,  32,  87, 
199 

New   Romney,  250 

Noah's  Ark,  Lurgashall,  207 
Norwich,    Maid's    Head,    202, 

245 
Norwood,  Gipsy  Queen,  131 

Goat  House,  206 

Nautical  Inns,  131 

Nottingham  Castle,  Derby,  99 
Nottingham,  Ram,  1 

Old  Red  House,  nr.  Newmarket, 

79 

Old  Steyne,  Brighton,  216 
Old  White  House,  Oxford,  236 
Ossington,   Newark,   236 
Ospringe,  Crown,  37 

Ship,  37 

Ostrich,  Colnbrook,  37,  188 
Oxford,    Elm    Tree,    236 

Old  White  House,  236 

Oxford  Arms,  Warwick  Lane, 
83 

Papworth       Everard,       Three 

Horse  Shoes,  108 
Pelican,  Speen,  125 
Pied  Bull,  Islington,   120 
Fleshy,   White  Horse,  98 
Plough,  Birdbrook,  243 

Kingsbury,  109 

Smallfield,  208 

Upper  Dicker,   109 

Plumbley,  Smoker,  141 
Portsmouth,  Dolphin,  261 

Fountain,  261 

Port  Sunlight,  Bridge  Inn,  236 
Prince     Albert,     Rodborough, 

235 
Punch  Bowl,  High  Easter,  74, 

76 
Purslow,  Hundred  House,  236 

Queen's  Head,  Huntingdon,  79 


Index 


293 


Queen's  Head,  Islington,  120 
Queen's  Hotel,  Hawkhurst,  142 

Ram,  Nottingham,  1 
Raven,  Hereford,  151 
Reading,  Bull,  19 
Redbourne,  Chequers,  107 
Red  House,  Stratford-on-Avon, 

216 
Red     Lion,      Hampton  -  on  - 

Thames,  114,  148 

Henley,   154 

King's  Heath,  236 

Martlesham,  174 

Sittingbourne,   114 

Speldhurst,  114 

Truro,  244 

Wingham,  113,  195 

Reformation,  Reading,   169 
Reindeer,  Lincoln,  138 
Rochester,  Bull,  22,  204 

George,  37 

Rodborough,     Prince     Albert, 

235 

Roehampton,  King's  Head,  118 
Romford,  Cock  and  Bell,  79 
Rose,  Wokingham,  94 
Rose  and  Crown,  Sudbury,  204 
Royal  Oak,  Bettws-y-Coed,  157 
Running  Horse,  Sandling,  141 

Saffron  Walden,  Sun,  174 
St.  Albans,  Bull,  21 

Chequers,  107 

Fighting  Cocks,  2 

George,  39 

White  Hart,  85 

St.      Anna's     Castle,      Great 

Leighs,  165 

Sandiway,  Blue  Cap,  140 
Sandon,  Dog  and  Doublet,  236 
Saracen's  Head,  Newark,  1 
Scole,  White  Hart,  172 
Sennen,  First  and  Last,  162 
Seven  Stars,  Manchester,  1 
Shefford,  Swan,  174 
Ship,  Norwood,  131 

Ospringe,  37,  283 

Wingham,  194 


Shipton  -  under  -  Wychwood, 

Crown,  199 

Sieve,  Minories,  E.G.,  164 
Simon  the   Tanner,   Bennond- 

sey,  61 
Sir  Hugh  Middleton,  Islington, 

132 

Sittingbourne,  Red  Lion,  114 
Skittles,  Letchworth,  231 
Slapestones,  Chequers,  110 
Smallfield,  Plough,  208 
Smoker,  Plumbley,  141 
Sonning,   White  Hart,  2361 
South  Weald,  Golden  Fleece,  63 
Speen,  Pelican,  125 
Speldhurst,  Red  Lion,  114 
Spread  Eagle,  Midhurst,  7 
Spital,  Stanmore,  189 
Star,  Alfriston,  24,  201 

Great  Yarmouth,  204 

Star  and  Garter,  Brighton,  155 
Stratford-on-Avon,  Red  Horse, 

216 
Strand,  Clothiers'    Arms, 

Greyhound, 
Swan,  Ash  Vale,   143 

Clare,  175 

Felstead,  51,  75 

Fittleworth,  158 

Grasmere,  158 

Shefford,  174 

Sutton  Valence,  116 

Tarporley,   140 

Swan  and  Maiden  Head,  Strat- 
ford-on-Avon, 152 
Sudbury,  Bull,  19,  198 

Rose  and  Crown,  204 

Sun,  Peering.  199 

Saffron  Walden,   174 

Sutton  Valence,  Swan,  116 

Tabard,  Southwark,  25 

Tarporley,  Swan,  140 

Ten  Bells,  Leeds,  Kent,  179 

Theale,  Angel,  175 

Three   Crosses,   nr.    Daventry, 

263 

Three  Frogs,  Wokingham,  123 
Three  Horseshoes,  Lickfold,  108 


235 


294 


Index 


Three    Horseshoes,     Papworth 

Everard,    108 

Three  Lions,  Godalming,  11 
Three  Pigeons,  Brentford,  153 
Tiger,  Lindfield,  7 
Truro,  Red  Lion,  244 
Tunstall,  Green  Man,   236 
Turpin's    Cave,    High    Beech, 

170 

Unicorn,  Weobley,  121 
Union,  Flyford  Flavel,  239 
Upper  Dicker,   Plough,    109 
Uxbridge,   Crown  and  Treaty, 
133 

Walsingham,  Black  Lion,  115, 

151 
Waltham  Gross,  Four  Swans, 

171 

Wantage,  Bear,  174 
Warbolt  -  in  -  Tun,  Warbleton, 

167 
Warlingham,  White  Lion,  145, 

208 

Weobly,   Unicorn,  121 
Wentworth  Arms,  Elmsthorpe, 

236 
Westerham,     General      Wolfe, 

132 
Westminster,  Cock  and  Tabard, 

23 

Coach  and  Horses,  86 

West  Wickham,    White  Hart, 

235 
Wheatsheaf,  Kelvedon,  151 


Wheatsheaf,  Loughton,  234 

Bletchingley.  146 

White  Hart,  Borough,  176 

Brentwood,  41,  199 

Godalming,  117 

Godstone,  208 

Guildford,  41 

St.  Albans,  85 

Scole,  172 

Sonning,  236 

West  Wickham,  235 

Witham,  89,   176 

White  Horse,  Dorking,  26 

Kensington,   148 

Fleshy,  98 

White  Lion,  Bristol,  117 

Guildford,  117 

Warlingham,  145 

White  Swan,  Henley-in-Arden, 

154 

(See  also  Swan) 
William  IV,  Elmers'  End,  235 
Winchester,   George,  54 
Windmill,  Hollingbourne,   179 
Wingham,  Red  Lion,  113,  195 

Ship,   194 

Witham,  White  Hart,  89,  176 
Withyham,  Dorset  Arms,  107 
Wokingham,  Rose,  94 

Three  Frogs,   123 

Woodbridge,  Bull,   150 
Wye,  Honest  Miller,   168 
Wymondham,    Green   Dragon, 

39 

Yarmouth,  Star,  204 


THE    END 


Press  of  Isaac  Pitman  &•  Sons,  Bath,  England. 
(2244) 


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